Autumn Vale
by elfenlied1012
Summary: The Faunus war was fought over many years, many places, but none so important to Vale as it's Northern battles. Set in the third year of the Faunus war from multiple perspectives, Autumn Vale deals with the start of a conflict between the Schnee and the Faunus that would span generations. Part of a the Vale series. M for blood, language, and sexual themes A.U. as of Volume 2 ep 3
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1. The Cats and Wolves of Fort Castle

Sir Guido the Knight for Hire

Autumn is a wretched seasoned, preferred only by the most wretched of people. A season where the world itself turns sick and begins to rot. The winds were rough, whipping through the forest adding a wet chill all night. The air was always cold, but muggy and the days grew shorter. Worst of all was the damned rain. Every day it seemed to rain, the cold turning it to ice water without even the decency to turn it to snow. At least than it would not soak into clothes and armor. That wretched rain always falling, thumping against helms echoing endlessly with every drop.

"Sir Guido,I still don't see why we can't use the cars for this. Wouldn't it be faster?" Well of course it would. A whole caravan of horse carried dust barrels and men at arms wasn't exactly fast. Three rifle dragoons in front including him, three in back, three wagons of creaking dust paid for by Fort Castle coin all on the backs of a dozen horses. They were slow as dirt, but with the rain they were as good as silent. Aside from that damn dinging noise inside his helmet. The gods seem content to let that torment him.

"Don't even start with me girl. You know it's too loud." Although the shouting wasn't helping much either. Guido felt nothing, but cold. The thin steel plates of armor he wore seemed to freeze to his skin, soaked in rain. His large six foot form was muted in the cold as the rain and water shriveled him up. Not the most attractive with greyed hair and messy beard, a knight getting on in age with no real lands to fall back to, but experienced in war. He had lived in the service of the Lady of Fort Castle for the last five years, predating this pointless revolt. The Faunus had ruined the peaceful enforcer's life he had in the mines, and with every mission he survived Guido's employers thought better of him. The better they thought of him the more work turned into dangerous missions of a hero, not the pleasant doldrums of a guard captain.

"Aren't we just as loud being a line of horses, sir." But not as loud as her apparently. The girl was inexperienced; the Faunus could hear anything a mile away with their demon ears the slightest reduction mattered. Nearly three years the knights of Fort Castle fought the damned rebel Faunus and never lost a battle, but the noose around Fort Castle's neck grew tighter as trade was destroyed by raiders and their numbers thinned when patrols went missing. Brigands they were, not real rebels. They were easy enough to kill, by blade or rifle, but they ran away and sniped with crossbows and longbows whenever faced by real knights. It was for that reason that no matter how much the rain echoed in his helm, Guido did not remove the damn thing. Faunus had left him enough scars already.

"What on Remnant would be the point of wasting barrels of dust running the cursed powder back and forth? Why even bother. Then when the Faunus kills you, we wouldn't even have dust enough to make it worth the effort." It was all the damned Schnee's fault. They ignored the kings call to force the Faunus to Menagerie, let them work in the dust mines, must be how they knew the shipments. Guido almost thought they might be cohorts. The rebels forced the price of dust up being needed for cannons and rifles and the Schnee would happily bleed the loyal lords dry. They could have raised an army to end the northern rebels, or shipped the dust in by airship to Fort Castle, but no they sat back and claimed neutrality. Schnee and Faunus, gods damn them all.

"I'm sorry sir.." His Squire muttered barely over the rain and for a moment the old Knight felt guilty. The kid was dressed in rags with barely a touch of armor. She was young, hair a loose blonde, common for the people of the southern cities. Her face was riddled with freckles, and expression haggard by the ice rain. Why they had assigned a soaked foolish southern girl to be his squire Guido could only ponder, if it wasn't too cold to do so.

"Regardless girl, how do you expect to become a knight with such shoddy horsemanship? You Southerners don't know the value of a good mount. When we get back I'll teach you better, may be that you'll become worth something to someone then." If they had the chance that is. The route made him nervous. The path from Fort Castle to the border of the Schnee lands was long winding road all riding along the White River. The river spun apart this far into the mountains though. In spring it would flow thick again, and in winter the water slow thin and freeze solid enough to double the roads size, but in autumn, the damnable month, it was nothing besides a wet sloshing mush of cold mud. It was too thick to run the horses off the road, and the other side against the river was a ledge, always a few feet above the cobbled road where the earth had been worn down by the flooded river. One of the caravans flanks were mudded over, the other cliffs too difficult to climb up, but easy for the enemy to drop down. If Guido survived another winter he swore he would rip down those cliffs himself come summertime.

"My mother said dust will end the age of horses. No need to learn how to ride better, that'll be for the farmers Sir. If you saw Vale you'd know for sure Sir." Vale was a filthy city, and Guido had enough of it, nothing but a collection of rich nobles and poor fools thinking they might be like them if they had the right dress. Only work for a man like Guido lie here, north of Forever Falls.

Somewhere in the bitterness Guido shut his eyes for just a moment, tired from a long wet muddy day. Falling asleep on horseback was a trick every old knight needed to know if they intended to survive a campaign or two, but at lead Guido couldn't let himself. Quick shot of a breath woke him up and ahead of them stood squarely in the road a figure.

"Hold you wretches!" Guido shouted pulling the reins on his own black mare. The horse kicked up acting all sorts of spooked, that as enough to make Guido reach for his dust rifle. What stood in front was a figure of impressive height taller by a foot than any man in his routine. The monster stood low to the ground covered in a thick blue and black armor, jagged with inscriptions of wolves. The plates ended in chain and blue fabric along the ends of its leggings and arms. The helm was black and carved with the expression of a wolf, the back having a small blue plum to it. Its right arm hosted a zweihänder up on the armored shoulder, the other hand held a tower shield; beaten and carved by claws of some sort of grim, but the face of a wolf seemingly scarred was ever present. A blue and black wolf was the symbol of no family Guido knew in Fort Castle Lands. "You there, the one dressed like some knight. What lands do you come from?" Black wolves in a dark forest, like the Beowolves of the Snowy Forest are never a good sign.

"I am no Knight, Sir. I am a Huntress." The voice was female, though rough and near a growl. Guido disliked that answer, huntresses and hunters were a bane of normal men in times like these. They were sworn to hunt and stop the encroaching grimm, but more and more Hunters and Huntresses were used in modern war. Dust had the grimm running leaving experienced hunters afoot with nothing but masterful combat training and gifts with the arcane arts of aura and dust. Legions of normal men-at-arms could be dealt with by a skilled huntress; Guido had seen it himself in previous wars. Nevermores in Human skin they were. Her station explained the armor and the damage to it, but all hunters and huntress that could be bought in the province sat in the comfy warm hearth of the Lady of Fort Castles. A huntress out here….

"Aye, neither are we, this here girl is a tradesmen we are just passing through. Wine merchant you see." Displaying arms and banners of Fort Castle proudly stopped months ago when no one wearing the colors ever came back. Guido was the first to refuse. The others knights called him dishonorable, the other knights were dead. His squire was at least smart enough to play his part, looking the bored merchant's girl with a whistling tune.

"Lot of rifles for wine merchants, Sir." The way the Huntress stood, right hand tight on that Blade. Guido clutched his rifle in return. Fire dust might not work in the rain, but his gun was loaded with force dust and a bolt of metal, it would end a huntress as well as traditional fire. Another Veteran's trick for rainy days. If things went bad, one shot in the heart would put the huntress down as well as any Grimm.

"Aye, a dangerous wood and that's where the money is made…" Guido said just above the rain, the conversation not going at all where he wanted. The Huntress was too cocky, gunners all ready to down the black wolf. Shots fired meant attracting brigands though, something to be avoided if their little merry band didn't feel like a taking a fist full of arrows to the back. "Are Grimm afoot?" Again Guido's horse began to panic slightly, the smell of that huntress irritating the mare, worst time for that sort of thing

"No, is only liars and Fort Castle men I see." The Huntress finished with a wolf's deep angry growl, animal enough to make his mare panic harder, kickin' up mud as Guido rushed to calm it.

Faunus.

"Gunner!" Guido shouted unable to settle his horse enough to aim. What should have been the burst of flaming dust was a shuffle in the trees. Another figure split apart into three shadows, each engaging the wagons gunners. The figures swift blades cut down the men and the shadows then formed into one, the Black Cat.

"It's Dust! Take them down!" Was all Guido could hear clearly before the back of their supple wagon was chewed up by crossbow bolts, a favorite of the Faunus rebels. His squire and dragoon companion both turned away, towards the shadows behind them, but Guido new better. Never turn your back to a howling wolf in the night.

Rifle out, lifted quicker than even the wolf expected. The bang rendered him deaf, and the spark of a shot striking the tower shield was the only light as that Huntress' Zweihander put down Guidos mare. The horse collapsed and Guido with it. The metal plate leggings acted as the brace and the weight horse snapped his leg when it fell on him. Mud splattered on his face, that same damning rain pounding on his helm and a pain so unimaginable in his leg that the knight had no words to shout or thoughts to form, just hatred of Autumn. More Faunus figures came from the shadows pulling down the squire girl and the horses. The pain dulled his sense of time, but eventually a boot to the back of the head put him out.

* * *

><p>"On your knees!" Pressed on his broken leg Guido wanted to scream. The bastards knew he couldn't hope to stand, but they made him walk, bag over his head and leg shattered, some trail long forsaken by any gods he intended to worship. The mud now caked him as he fell with every step, but the mongrels wouldn't even let him lie down and bleed to death. Bastards dragged Guido back up and marched him. Sometime past, though the pain made it impossible to think how much before they shouted that order, and on Guido's knees he dropped feeling the shattered leg beg for relief. The old Knight was done.<p>

"Unmasked them, they have a right to know their accusers!" The voice was matched with the shadow that ordered the assault, and though Guido had never met the man, he knew this brigand right away. A man of taller than average height, but his body slim and agile. His armor was thin, nothing more than patches of black boiled leather. They made a warn breastplate gauntlets and one shoulder brace on his left arm, any substantial armor pieces had a knife holstered to them and the young man carried a bow along his back, the rebellions preferred weapon. The whole was set strung together with white linen of some sort, shockingly pristine for a thug that did most his work in the mud. Hair was black as a raven reaching past normal ear length with added bangs, Faunus cat's ears popping between the silky straight strains. His mouth was hidden by a long black scarf that reached down his back. The cat's face was neither rough nor frightening, but the glow of yellow eyes was another story. An animal's eyes.

"The Black Cat of Fort Castle." The leader of Fort Castle's worst gang of rebels for the last year. Mostly miners from outside the Castle walls, but their numbers had swelled. Unlike previous rebel groups the Black Cat would not fight pitched battles; instead his band picked off patrols and let the knights dig themselves a lovely tomb inside the walls of Fort Castle. Starve them he intended to do, and some whispered the Black Cat was responsible for the fire inside the Castles grain stores. Some still thought he hid there, possessing the stray cats of the castle. Guido knew however, this was no magical beast, just an animal needing to be put down.

"My name is Charles, yours?" Rumor had it he was a cordial murderer, and despite the killing and being dragged through the damned forest Guido would almost agree. He spoke without much arrogance, instead had the tone of a humble victor.

"Sir Guido sworn to the service of Fort Castle. For now that is. Now let me sit off of my shattered leg brigand if you have any decency." Guido took the moment to look around. There was no escape; the fires around them illuminated the center of a massive camp. Faunus men and women rebels sat at every path, the sea of them having seemingly no end in either direction. Beside Guido was his Squire, panicked little girl she was. Around them a crowded gather, many faunus of many types were here. It was impossible to remember every face, but all shared the same level of distaste at them and smiles of victory. Beat an old man and captured a little girl, he bet their mothers were very proud.

"And you?" Charles asked the squire girl, ignoring Guido's request.

"She's just some stupid girl from Vale, some knight's little daughter. Worth nothing dead, might be worth a ransom if you leave her be." Guido shouted before the girl could answer with something stupid and dangerous. Not the right time to shout king's propaganda or say something to insult the Faunus leader. Guido was dead as soon as he was captured, a knight with no holdings and no family was worthless to keep, but the kid might make it as a hostage.

"Please sir, I didn't do anything-" The little one moaned between tears. Poor child should have stayed with her knightly mother then let herself go north for a squire's life in Fort Castle.

"That's to be decided and I am not a sir." Charles responded with a tone nowhere near as cruel as his words were. He lowered himself to speak to the girl more at her level, perhaps sympathetic to children, or other things. Either way was a better fate than death.

"The kid did nothing, sell her. It's money you're after anyways brigand and don't say you're not. I know you're type." Thieves is all they were. The smell of a dishonest day's wealth Guido believed would motivate the man to act where begging would not.

"You both stand charged with smuggling through Faunus lands, and you, Sir Guido, are charged with crimes against my people." Charles announced too much applause. So it was done, they would be killed and not a thing they could do about it. Guido cursed as they shouted and all hopes of escape closed on him.

"Oh get this sham over with. If you mean to kill us don't force me on broken knee all day to do so." Guido shouted the pain from his leg becoming too much to bear. To think his life would end in a case of smuggling. The autumn rain still dripping on his muddy form, Guido felt not sad, but angry. Why make him walk, why force him to his knees. So why not resist, he mused starting to stand on his good leg for support. What would they do, kill him?

"Shut it old man." A metal claw forced Guido back onto his knees. The beast from the forest stood behind him, still dressed in ornate heavy blue and black armor. The helm was off, and Guido confirmed the huntress for a faunus woman. Hair black and with long bangs, the giant wolf woman seemed to be trying and failing to hide a massive scar that traveled across her face. Whatever hope of that monster being pretty was ruined by her angry dark eyes and sharp fangs that made up most of her teeth. More wolf in that girl than any of the Faunus that he had ever seen in his travels.

"Oh bite it you bit-" Guido ended in a screech as a metal foot slammed on his bad knee. The monster clearly was not quite as cordial as its master.

"On the Crime of smuggling what do you say?" The Black Cat asked refusing to get off subject.

"Fort Castle still flies the flag of Vale, boy." Guido replied in a raised voice, he would die a knight not some smuggler. The mock court was not moved and the Black Cat only frowned.

"I'm not killing a little girl, Charles." The wolf girl shouted above the muttering around them. Guido thought if making a crack at if she wanted to eat her first, but thought better of it. This was the kids chance and bless her heart she wasn't so dumb as to do anything but cry. It was silent for a moment before the leader nodded at the huntress.

"I say we pardon the child, what of it friends?" Charles announced and the little squire squealed in joy collapsing in the mud. Guido did not rejoice yet, the crowd was shouting louder than ever nothing could be made out in this hellish court. "One at a time, please friends!" Charles shouted over the rest forcing a hushed angry silence. The wolf and Charles maintained their vote but not everyone was pleased.

"No, send a message." One woman called for in the back. "Aye a pardon." One of the younger men shouted, though he was covered in a hood, he seemed to garner enough respect that many voted with him. "Never, they wouldn't pardon a Faunus." One of older men shouted, a big miner of some sort, thirsty for blood, a few cried in support of that. "She's a little girl!" A woman shouted back with fury. All the while Charles stayed focused, Guido could see his ears twitch with every vote of the robbers jury.

"Enough, I think we know our answer. The squire stays a prisoner, but is pardoned for smuggling." Charles decreed, the kid cried laughing, and the half the crowd cheered. A notable number seemed displeased, and Guido knew nothing would convince them of his innocence. At least the squire would make it. Silly child, he couldn't even remember her name, calling her girl so much, but Guido was happy she would make it at least a little while.

"No such luck for me aye?" Guido muttered feeling the cold rob him of the usual vigor he had.

"You're not a little girl are you false knight?" The iron clad wolf mocked behind her black bangs.

"False? You're a huntress. Suppose to be killing grimm not men at arms, monster!" Guido shouted back at her. This wolf crawled under his skin like no other. Defenders they were supposed to be, now she was as much an enemy to mankind as the grim they hunt.

"Enough, Sir Guido, on top of charges that you have smuggled, you are charged for crimes against the Faunus people. You remember a young miner girl named Lucia, had ears like me and yellow eyes?" Guido did not like where this was going. The name of that Faunus did not ring any sort of bell, but until the war he never remembered the name of a single one of the miners he was supposed to control.

"Not really, I am a little rattled from the leg at the moment." This was definitely not good. The crowed had lost all the sympathetic eyes, even the cordial Charles seemed colder, angrier and malicious.

"She does. I also remember you." Must have been one of those times. Guido cursed the drink and all it made him do, all the moments he indulged in weaknesses as its effects started.

"I never did a thing without paying for it, Bandit." Guido argued, wanting less to die from this sort of accusation than smuggling. He remembered a few faunus girls, working girls, or so it should have been. Barely remembered those nights, but it certainly left him poorer.

"She said no."

"Made more than a minors wage. No law against what I did, I paid my dues." Guido could not remember well enough to deny it, but he always paid and well. It was frowned on, but not illegal if given compensation, well not for faunus girls. It was his only defense, and the old Knight knew as he said it, that it was just wind to the mob.

"What say we friends?." The black cat called for judgment and got his answer.

"Death." It was a bloody chorus song in angry shouts and slurs.

"Aye it is then." Guido whispered to himself knowing soon it would end. He was warned in his squiring days drink or women would be the end of him would his old master be laughing now knowing it was both. The thought made even him laugh.

"No question, miss Thrym, if you may." Charles ordered, and to his credit did not move. At Least the man had the honor to see it done as Guido felt himself forced onto a tree trunk, the end painted red._ 'The fate of some other knights huh?'_

"Down now, it's time Knight." The wolf, which he now knew had the surname Thrym, growled. She would enjoy this no doubt, as she raised her massive blade, Guido could see the small runes made of crystallized force dust on the center now, a fine weapon. Guido had no fight left; the pain in his leg was enough. He was tired now, wanting some rest. He knew why they had him placed by a tree chunk. Not even a hanging. Better this way, he didn't have to stand. Guido made no peace with the gods, no reason to. The rain was proof enough they wanted nothing from him, but to piss on his life. Autumn was truly a most wretched time.

"Swing hard and true now Wolf, else I'll come back and show you the proper way." Was all he had to say. The old knight shut his eyes, and soon the pain stopped. Even the rain eased it seemed as did the entire world to him.

**** Welcome to Autumn Vale, a standalone prequel of my Vale series. I hope you enjoyed and will leave many reviews it always helps guys. This story will be much more serious than Snowy Vale and even Melting Vale, so be aware of that. **

**So next chapter will include some actually known characters, namely the POV which will be Qrow so be excited. For those of you that maybe asking, "wait wasn't Fort Castle attacked by humans not Faunus?" Don't worry I got this, you'll see.**

**So I've kept the historical and legendary naming convention for this, and as characters leave the story, whether from death or just going off to do whatever it is they do I'll had a little context as to the name**

**Sir Guido is Sir Guy of Gisborne - Guido or even older Wido is the German original version of the French name Guy and is shared with the famous mercenary hired to kill Robin Hood in many Robin Hood myths. **

**Hope you all liked it and I'm still looking for a beta for Autumn Vale if you're willing PM me.**

**-Elfen**


	2. Ch 2: Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Roses

Ch. 2 Kings, Queens, Jacks and Roses

Qrow the Young Hunter

"Qrow, Qrow! I can see it!" Summer shouted from the top of the wheat cart, little red hood flapping in the Autumn wind. Qrow sat still, uninterested in the city's horizon. This should be just a short stop on the way to Vale, it was better there. They could live well off of his work in the capitol. No more cold winters for Summer, all they had to do was get enough money to run to Vale by Airship. Maybe they could leave for Mistral after that. Summer might miss the snow, but life there was peaceful and a Hunter could find good work. Either way, a warring Vale was no place for him to raise Summer.

"Brother, it's like you said, Winterplace!" Qrow leaned back into the grain stack of the carts rear, facing the back he just watched the Northwater River winding its way to meet the white river and wrap around Castle White. There they fused and became the Long-White running all the way to the sea. Qrow had a certain fondness for the Northwater. Not as big as the White, but it ran all the way from Snowy Forest, through Nördlichste Castle in the mountains. He grew up by the Northwater, and while summer likely was too young to remember, they swam in its rapids every time the warmer days allowed. This place was the end of his home river's reach, the last time he ever planned to see it.

"Wintertown, little one, Wintertown. Sit back down you'll bother our driver." Qrow called back to Summer. She was always a girl blessed with far more energy than Qrow had, among many other gifts. Much more excited about the journey than her older brother was, Summer had little to no connection with the old family village in Snowy Forest, though she claimed that after she became the world's greatest huntress it would be home again. That place was not meant for people. The war drained the north of Hunters to manage the Beowolves and the money to pay the few that remained to do so. The capitol was their future, if Qrow had any say in this.

"You didn't even look." Summer complained pulling on her red little dress, matched with the long red cloak, almost too long for her and ruffled from use. It was their mothers before she passed in the last war. Both a soldier and a Huntress. Qrow had followed in her footsteps, but refused to follow in her folly. A Hunter is no soldier; their abilities were for killing soulless monsters not enemies of a king he had never met.

"I don't need. I know what it looks like." Qrow lied to heckle his excited sister. The poor girl was giddy at the thought of a big real city. Nördlichste was the biggest town she had ever seen, and aside from the fortress there, the town was barely twice the size of their home village. Truth was this would be the biggest city he had ever seen as well. Sure towns like Vermilion and Ramsgate were fairly well sized this far from the capitol, but Wintertown that was another beast entirely. The home of modern dust technology some claimed it the Capital of the north, calling the Schnee family the "Kings in Vale" as opposed to the King of Vale. An audacious statement for sure, but not without merit. The new Schnee Company logo was appearing even in Qrow's village.

"Liar, I bet you couldn't tell me the color of the tallest building." Summer replied with a smile, catching her brother red handed, however Qrow was not without a trick. Flipping his scythe, the metal reflected what was behind them. The image was blurred, but the city was massive, stretching its reach across the horizon. Airships floated above the city, small trade vessels, and four large military ships, all with a red and white snowflake crest. It was difficult to make out from the reflection where the cities out walls and the river met. Pipelines seemed to run throughout and smoke emptied out of wintertown's corners.

"White and black, it's the Castle." Qrow let out with a cunning smile feeling completely satisfied, his silver eyes returning to the beloved country side. Coming into town as well were other carts, some powered by dust others by horse, packed with food and water for the city, easily building up stockpiles for the Schnee. A reasonable response with rebels just outside the Schnee holdings. Leaving on the same road and river, boats loaded with dust for the front lines both north and towards the mountains. Despite the war, or perhaps because of it, trade seemed bustling.

"Cheater. I saw that." Summer complained stamping her feet down on the grain bag. The vibration was no more powerful than the wheels on cobblestone, but Qrow still worried it might startle the horses.

"You didn't see anything little one, now sit down please." Qrow called out gently, not wanting to raise his voice at Summer. She pouted, but did not argue. Summer was a good girl, though willful and energetic, her silver eyes always thirsting for adventure and trouble. One might describe her as a bit of a tomboy, black hair cut barely past her jaw, not long like the other girls her age. Got in her way she said, and Qrow felt strangely proud of that sort of thinking, even if willful. "Sorry for the loud morning my friend, she has never seen Winterstown." Qrow added speaking to the driver up front. A somewhat gaunt, but sweet man, He was kind enough to help a Hunter along the path. Sure it made certain no one would attack his small shipment, but Qrow had no delusions this was anything, but a free ride.

"Aye, here is the future. The little miss can be as excited as she please, doesn't hurt no one anyhow." The old driver shouted back, likely rubbing his bald head as Qrow had noticed him to do whenever he spoke, overly mindful of his thinning hairline.

"Told you I'm fine!" Summer called hearing her defense. She seemed happy still taking in the sights, her kicking her legs in a childlike fashion. She was always more fascinated with people where Qrow preferred silence of a nice riverbed or meadow. Soon even that disappeared. The scenery around Qrow began to shift a little. Around the road small wooden stake pits sat silently, the earth uplifted to form small rifle trenches. Stakes began to give way onto a small wooden palisade, the first of many stops.

"Halt! What's your business?" One of the guardsmen shouted. Warm cotton coats running long to their boots, a more personalized version of the kings regulars, dressed in Schnee white hosting rifle and pike on their shoulders. Some had the bonus of a plate of armor over their fusilier's coat, though most didn't. Hunters could use their aura to supplement armor, but to the average riflemen without unlocked aura, it meant nothing to a well-placed round of fire dust.

"Just more food grains for the market sir." The driver replied with a nod. The guard made note of the Rose family however and raised an eye in protest. Perhaps war refugees had become a sort of issue. "Just some of the family, come here to help me unload is all sir." Summer was smart enough not to protest, instead just excitedly watched the guards go about their duty, fortifying the outside defenses.

"Alright, no Faunus so I'll let you in. The main gate will require a sort of refugee tax and safety deposit. Have twenty lien ready, you'll get ten of it back on your return. Have it ready." So that was a problem, or at least the Schnee had no qualms about recovering war debt through the needs of others. While refugees would be a fiscal drain in the long run, putting the burden on neighboring merchants traveling through every day the cost could easily be recovered and then some with the blame resting on the common people running from the war. Clever.

"Understood and thank you sir." Was the only reply. A whip and the horses marched forward. The road past the palisade was more congested, load trucks and nervous horses moving both ways. Summer stared silver eyes wide at the mass of tents and wooden defenses that had been popped up along the inside of the barricade. Small mounds and hills formed cannon emplacements and dips into trenches. All trees had been cut down for the bulwark and chains ran under the water waiting to be pulled to lock any boats out of the river. The camps seemed orderly however, with few vestiges of the more unsavory camp followers were about and all and all the affair seemed peaceful.

It wasn't long before the main gate came into view. Outside it three lines formed. One composed of people and outgoing vehicles picking up their butchered deposits, a second the line of refugees and merchants offering their tribute. The last line was slower, a mix of both. Faunus all being searched checked and paying twice the taxing and receiving none back from what Qrow gathered out of the shouting. In much of north Vale the war brought little peace for the Faunus. Even in his village old Faunus families were seen with more distrust.

The king's call to forcibly "relocate" Faunus had seemingly fallen on deaf ears by north Vale's more independent lords, starting with Lord Schnee himself. It was not out of selfless love of course, but need of workers. The winters were rough on the newly industrial north and Faunus made perfect workers. Many went north to seek asylum, but found it a false promise, serfdom as opposed to relocation. This population disparity caused the revolution to be strongest in the north, at least in Vale. Of course rebellion lead to distrust between races and even human serfs began to see them as enemies. Qrow felt for both parties. The northern lords ran things as they always have and now were suffering penance for a king's ignorance and the Faunus who fought to have any sense of freedom. Gods be good he would have no part in this feud.

"It's so big!" Summer shouted in glee, pulling Qrow's eyes in front of him. Somehow they had gotten past the gatehouse and into the city streets. While the river ran not eight hundred feet from Qrow, he could not see it. The buildings stood each at least two stories, many above that. The city street was paved cobble stone, and light fixtures hung at every corner, something Qrow had only seen in the richest parts of other towns. Smoke piped out of some factories, and lights out of the stores. The smell of flowing water mixed with the scent of people, dust and industrial smoke. All above them was the one thing Summer watched. Carved from moonstone bright white wherever the sun touched it, but black in every shadow was Castle White the family sigil flying at every tower. Yet the flag of the king and Vale was strangely absent.

"We are headed there Summer, business with the master of that castle. Excited?" Qrow asked with a smile, ruffling his little sister's hair. She was still fascinated by the fortress, eyes locked onto its fantastical moonstone look. Qrow knew it was not truly made of the remnants of the moon, at least he did not think so, but the way it seemed to exist only in two shades, something only the moon did. It was astounding.

"Really? Are you a knight now brother?" Summer seemed even more fascinated by that. In no way was Qrow a knight, a dead concept from a dead time, already romanticized despite being in living memory. Perhaps he was just bitter due to mother. Either way it was good to see such a happy mystified smile on Summer.

"No better, a Hunter." Qrow replied with a wink as the cart began entering the main plaza. The center of town was filled with food and specialty tents, merchants and business proprietors filling the corners, most notable was of course the Schnee Company acquisition agents, searching for any hint of storable goods, and Schnee money lenders. Above the plaza, guards stood watch, the snowflake banner proudly on display. Here the smoke was lessened, and the lively scene seemed organic. It was here the cart came to a sudden stop.

"Knight sounds better though." Summer complained sliding down the pile of wheat grains. She seemed less interested in the hunter title, but Qrow knew she looked up to him, thinking him some hero of the people. Stepping off the cart Schnee acquisitions moved in to be the first offer. The drive seemed pleased, the thin old man stepping up to Qrow.

"You, young man, take care of yourself and your sister. Can't have no harm coming to either' you." He raised his hand to shake Qrow's, while the young hunter rummaged through his pockets for some spare Lien. The old driver just shook his head no and pressed forward with his surprisingly large hands, the hands of a farm worker. "I'll have none of that Mr. Rose, just a good shake from one friend to another." A good for of man for sure. Perhaps Qrow could return the favor one day. Until then with a shake they departed, and with Summer in tow the young hunter walked towards the towering moonstone monolith.

The closer they got to Castle White, the narrower the roads and older the buildings became. Wintertown got its name from only existing during winter, when farmers without farms to tend to would seek work here. Most went home in spring, but every year a few stayed, and from them Wintertown had become a true metropolis.

"Summer, I plan to speak to the lord of that Castle, be mindful and a proper lady while we do so, alright?" Qrow lectured grasping hold on his sister's hand. She was very bright, but still only eight years old. Although many would remark that Qrow was just a child at fifteen, his mature features disguised that.

"I'm not a lady, I'm a girl. I don't have to be mindful." Summer always had an answer to everything. She took a strange pleasure in disrupting Qrow. She wouldn't cause any real trouble of course, but these were high class people, even if of questionable morals, lacking any sort of filter was dangerous.

"So you're just a child then? Should I send you to bed early each night like a little girl?" He replied with a vaguely disguised threat. Soon the smell and sound of flowing water was back, even over the jabbering of other pedestrians and trucks. The road opened to the flowing Long-White River, the bridge connecting the city to a hill that had become an island. It was here the Northwater merged with the White river.

The Schnee had built their castle on the hill the river ran against, choosing to dig out a moat, turning this wide yet tall hill into an island. An outmost rampart rapped along the moat, only exposed for the immaculate moonstone bridges. The island was in no way small, between its outer wall and inner keeps, there must have been many spacious apartments, that or copious amount of open nothingness.

"I'll be good…" Summer said small hushed voice, in mild awe of Castle White. The bridge across was simple enough, though guards more plentiful. The bridge was designed to be raised and lowered for ships, such a thing Qrow had seen only a few times. Regardless it seemed perfectly stable and traffic across was orderly. At its gates more guards stopped them, these more well equipped in the true armor, plates with the Schnee crest engraved in them. However at the mention that he was a hunter, they stepped aside escorting the Roses inside the inner walls.

Qrow was both surprised, and uncomfortable with what he saw within. The apartments he expected were there, but most of the space was left for drill yards, barracks and stables. Each and every part carved moonstone. Rifles could be heard shooting along the range, and the straight path up to the Castle itself was rather decorative, yet practical with partitions and iron fencing every few feet. Everything about Castle White seemed to serve a military purpose, aside from the Castle itself. From the outside light could be seen emptying into the sky from some sort of open ceiling. The Architecture seemed rather archaic, almost like a church, yet the towers clearly served a marshal purpose. More than anything, with its both black and white monochrome color, and particular design it seemed something timeless, not made by hand like some of the other ruins.

A line had formed along the entrance, many other petitioners here to take to their matters to the Lord. Such an old way of doing things seemed silly, but the Schnee were known for doing things in the more feudal way. Qrow quickly saw to his black and red leather armor, making sure whatever dust or smudge he could quickly clean would be handled. Summer stood restless however as the line slowly thinned. Eventually the Roses were allowed in and the sight was even more unnatural.

"To Otto Schnee, Lord of Castle White and the three rivers. I come with a message from the Lady of Fort Castle. She asks that you raise your army to break the Faunus scourge there in the name of Geordie, King of Vale. She asks you do this for our beloved king and all of humanity." A lone messenger read off a letter within a room of wolves. The main hall was long and open to the elements, chilled autumn air drifted in through the exposure and beams of white light colored the floor. To the left many men and women dressed in the modern business attire stood unamused, clearly a political faction onto itself. To the right stood men and women, all in the white uniforms of the guardsmen, with the addition of metals and accents to mark them as officers. They stood more at attention, each seeming more angry than disinterested. Above them all in a highchair of carved Moonstone was the one this whole circus waited on.

"If our beloved King wants my help, he can very well ask for it himself. The fool brought this on us anyways. I don't see the point in cleaning up his mess. Tell the fine lady that Fort Castle's problem is exactly that." Lord, or Herzog in the old language,Otto Schnee. Supposedly the most powerful and rich man north of Vale, and hopefully Qrow's newest employer. The man had famously founded the Schnee Company with his brother, the modern arm to their traditional family. Though the founder of the modern family was supposedly Konrad Schnee, Otto had made them a household name as far as Qrow's old village. He was also famously irate and clearly past his prime, the old man carried himself well. Wrinkled, but unbent, Otto was still tall, hair thinning, but with the famous silver and eyes of ice. Qrow noticed a sort of mocking grin he had, like the man was amused by everything.

"My Lord that is our king?" The messenger muttered just loud enough to spread a slight murmur throughout the court. The left laughed, right frowned, and the center line of petitioners whispered rumors. All of this Old Otto seemed to find amusing.

"Bloody much to show for it, eh? Perhaps I should march our army with a Faunus flag, bet that would jostle that fat fool quite a bit. Ha! Oh how I would love to see it. Old Geordie might just kill over!" Otto joked alone laughing heartily at his own jest. Both parties had mixed reactions, some smiling others looking both ways in fear of judgment, but no one chuckled as hard as Otto. "Enough, I have been charged with protecting the rivers, and in the king's name the rivers are ours. If the Lady seeks asylum we can protect her, but my knights remain here, just as my daughter said to you before." Otto gave with all officially required acknowledgements of royal authority. He waved the messenger away, strong hands calling for the next partition.

In front of Qrow was some sort of man at arms, dressed in a similar uniform; however the snowflake crest was a deep red. Stepping up to emptied floor, the man seemed small despite his sturdy posture. Lord Otto rolled his eyes at him however, clearly expecting something.

"My Lord, I come with word from Vermilion. Our warden, your cousin my lord, he requests the Vermilion Guard be allowed to return home. Better to hold your lands at the border, than here at the center. I am sure you will see sense in that where others have not." Another set of murmurs exploded as Summer fidgeted in line. Poor girl was not suited to this sort of thing. A loud stomp rang through the hall, followed by another. Bolting through the military right was a woman.

"What is my title?" She shouted, dressed in a long white and red officer's coat. It's reached all the way down her heels, the purest white Qrow had ever seen. Almost as white as her skin. The jacket and heels were ordained in red and blue, though only slightly. The Snowflake crest was clear on her jackets front, buttoned straight and perfect. The woman's silver hair was long reaching all the way past the small of her back, yet the bangs cut short and straight as not to interfere with her sight. She had the deepest blue eyes, and a snowy complexion, marred only by a small, but jagged scar on her lip. She was a beautiful woman, but frightening to the core and the muttering behind Qrow only reinforced that. Word was she was the Queen of Ice and Snow, the Heiress to Otto, oldest child of the family and the strongest Knight in the Schnee holdings.

"Weiss Schnee the second, lady of Castle White?" The Vermilion man shot back, not easily impressed or intimidated, however he did not reply rudely. This woman was above his station and Qrow could see the sense of inadequacy start to set in as she approached him.

"And what else?" She asked closing the distance; this Weiss was taller than him. She did not smile, did not share her father's sunny disposition.

"Heiress to Lord Otto." The Knight replied somewhat more feebly. He took as step back, only slightly and Weiss took a step forward to match.

"Hochmeisterin des Ritterordens. A knight above all knights. I am the commander of our forces, including the Vermilion Guard. From Castle White I can lead an army to any corner of our holdings in just over a day. Tell uncle if he wants his men back he will have to take them." The shot of her voice was ringing through the halls, as much of the right party broke out into smiles and laughs, most loudly of course was Otto, the uncaring old man he was. The knight's expression twisted between embarrassed and anger, turning redder as it went. "Next time, speak to me directly sentinel and we may avoid making another scene. Do not attempt to circumvent my authority again. You are dismissed." Weiss added refusing to take a step back before the knight did.

"Haha, the mouth on her! I most certainly raised you child. The motion stays, next petition." Otto said with a laugh forcing the Vermilion knight to leave.

"I told you knights are cool." Summer whispered pulling Qrow's leather armor, like the child she was. He nearly started fighting with his sister right there before another booming call snapped him back to reality. Slightly unnerved, the young hunter walked into the light, center of the room all eyes on him. Summer followed, but clung closely to him, disliking the attention

"You, boy, I do not know you. State your business." Otto stated coldly, the old man seemed to be getting tired despite his previous bouts of laughter. Qrow inhaled a deep breath, silently clearing his throat and nerved. He looked right at Otto, never letting his silver eyes turn away, just staying focused, serious. He was a Hunter, and Otto was an old man, no Ursa.

"My Lord. My name is Qrow Rose, this child is my sister Summer Rose. I have come here looking for employment. I am a Hunter, Beowolves are my specialty, but I have taken down much stronger prey before. I wish to do some work before moving on to Vale." Qrow spoke clearly, hoping not to seem desperate or showy. Let them no he was not interested in wasting their time, but rather perform simple business. Otto smiled at this, though the look in his eyes told Qrow that the old man was not on the same page.

"So you heard we are stocking up on Hunters. This is true. Ever fight a war before Mr. Rose was it?" He asked leaning forward in his chair. All the hunters and huntresses were finding work as soldiers, as they did too often in war, forgetting their purpose. Qrow would not continue his mother's mistake.

"No my lord and I don't intend to. My scythe is meant only for the soulless." He did not try to sound snarky, instead preferring clear and concise. Otto was less amused, but not angry. The right group immediately lost interest in Qrow though some chatter could be heard from the left faction.

"And there you go suggesting they have souls. I'm looking for skinners, not an idealist. Let a day's hunger go and perhaps you'll change your mind. Until then, good day Mr. Rose. Next." Otto called and already behind him some woman began to take the same short walk to center stage.

"Understood my lord. Good day." Qrow added, feeling a sense of dread and discomfort. He had no idea what they could do. The little Lien they had could not get them out of the city, nor provide them with living conditions. Perhaps he could find his sister some shelter, but not both. "Come Summer, we have to see to a place to sleep" Qrow whispered, pulling on Summer who seemed vaguely aware of the situation. She said nothing as they walked back through the crowd of petitioners. Footsteps seemed to hurry behind him, but Qrow did not take much note, concerns of food taking priority. Perhaps manual labor could be worked out,

"Mr. Rose! Would you please wait a moment?" The footsteps found a voice, fairly pleasant and formal. Qrow turned around to find in a fine fur trimmed jacket not unlike the knights, a man he recognized from the left group. Dressed in all white, this time with no red, but more blues. His clothing was more comfort focused, though not lacking in that small quality of formal knighthood.

"Who are you?" Qrow asked taking note to memorize the man's face. He was young, not much older than Qrow if at all. He was clean shaven, skinny like Otto, yet livelier and even a little red. His hair was short silver, but the same ice eyes as the lord. He was decidedly handsome, unusually so even.

"My name is Wilhelm Schnee. I run Schnee Dust Company. I have a job for you." He said in a smooth voice not as hostile as any of the other members of the family, gifted with a much easier smile and softer personality.

"I will not kill Faunus. I'm sorry." Qrow responded animatedly. He didn't mean to sound rude, but he would not be a part of this folly.

"How about a Nevermore?" Wilhelm replied with an easy smile.

*****First off I'm SOOOO sorry this is late. Had some work, a calc test and personal emotional stuff all kind of hit me so I'm really sorry about this. I got a paper to write than back to work with me.**

**I wanted to do a few thank yous. First to Frozenhikki who provided all the german translations for this, next is to Kuribayashi for giving me permission to reference Vermilion and basically make it canon in the Vale series because it is the best Fanfic. Of course they are set many many years apart. Both of them are really cool people and talented so check out their stories if you haven't already.**

**I had a few questions on this, but for the timeline I'm putting the Faunus war around 40 years prior to the events of RWBY proper. I based this off a researching small tidbits of world history we know and I think that estimate functions. I feel like with what little info we have it's the proper place, and thematically it's stylized as the later imperial age and fall of classical feudalism with a little dash of world war one added. Next in this chapter before some of you get mad about Summar having a red hood not a white one, relax I got this, I know just wait.**

**Hope to see you soon and thank all of you who are giving Autumn Vale a chance, I know it's a bit different so thank you guys and gals so much! Chapter of Melting Vale will be up as soon as it gets finished through beta!**

**Elfen.**


	3. Chapter 3: Offers and Armies

Chapter 3. Offers and Armies

Charles the Black Cat of Fort Castle

"So is that what they say?" Charles voiced, spinning a dagger along his thumb, the double thick leather protecting him despite the blade's thin point. An unsafe habit, but one he had since his father first tossed him a skinning knife. It was these little idiosyncrasies that let him remain who he was, lest the stories about him and false glory trick Charles into thinking himself better than the luckiest superbly unlucky hunter that ever was. Not even a grimm hunter like Miss Thryrm. No, deer and small animals for eating was his prey. How this even started grew more and more distant and confusing as the days went on.

"Yes Sir, they say you turn into cats still and haunt the castle. Say you steal children in our sleep too." The little captured squire girl explained nervously handing Charles a glass of water. She was a sweet little thing, if dreadfully ignorant of his people. She cried a lot early on, earning the poor girl some unwanted attention, but soon the prim and proper knight's daughter turned into common folk. Hair unkempt, smelling somewhat unclean, she had become Charles impromptu serving girl.

Though she always looked so sad, Charles found some interest in her perspective. She was in a way a very good indicator of the moral in Fort Castle, and apparently it had suffered quite a bit over the last few weeks. So from time to time he would bring her under this converted barn, now command center and he used that term lightly, to talk and give her rest from the rain and noise of the outside camps.

"And what would I even do with these children?" Charles ask in a somewhat mocking chuckle, a small smile crossing his lips as he took a sip from the slightly spiked water, just a purifier. It was kind of laughable that they would bother coming up with new reasons to hate him. Seemed being a Faunus was always enough before, a glorified brigand on top of that, and a poacher even before. Yet somehow the silly humans felt the need to add child kidnaping and magic to the list. Charles at least supposed it was a little funny.

"Eat them, least that's what they been saying. You feed on them like wolves and all." Well that felt rather unappealing. No, Charles did no such thing and the thought of it seemed dreadful, not to mention wasteful. _'Why children?'_ If man eating was really so necessary, wouldn't adults be so much more efficient? The insults did not bother Charles that much before, he could be called a monster by all manner of human opposition, but such a wasteful monster at that, now that was offensive.

"You believe it?" Charles asked directly, kneeling down to the little squire girl. She seemed to feel awkward at this, shifting away just a bit. Child was likely not used to seeing the shimmering yellow eyes of his people. Neither his fine black hairs, nor his cat like ears would likely give her any comfort either. Still the child did not baulk, instead straightened up and looked back at him

"If you did, why would you feed me instead of eating me? Doesn't make much sense, I guess." She replied voice rather hushed in nervousness. The response made Charles smile, and the little squire seemed to take more kindly to that.

"Smart girl. No I don't turn into cats or eat anyone, wouldn't be as hard to feed everyone if I did, must admit." Charles replied reaching out to muss his server's hair. She seized up, this was not surprising for a prisoner, but Charles paid it no mind. His little friend reminded him much of his deceased sister. A pleasant sort of girl. "I like the cat story though, wish I could see where they keep their dust, wouldn't know that would you Pan?" Charles asked considering now a good time to probe for a bit of information. The little girl stood awkwardly thinking for a moment, not saying much.

"Guido use to say a prisoner is only as valuable as the stuff they don't say." She replied, little Pan taking to heart some of that old enforcer's damnable advice. Charles hated Guido; he was an oppressor. Not the worst he admitted. Kind enough to ignore Charles' poaching for food, but cruel enough to abuse his rights. Charles still felt guilty for all the things he had not stopped before this day, maybe made him just as guilty as Guido. Either way the little squire seemed to look up to the old 'knight'. She did not like to speak of him though, little girl missing that drunkard. She awkwardly scratched her head, clearly wanted to change the subject. It was then that Charles noticed something.

"Maybe" He muttered to reply, but reached over quickly pulling part of Pan's shirt up, blue and black bruises blotched across the waistband and small of her back suggesting something he was very much not okay with. "Where you get that from little one?" Charles asked, yellow eyes staring at her with a certain measured anger, of course not directed at the little girl, but present all the same.

"They said not to tell…" She replied in a small hushed voice. Charles felt his blood boil, they were supposed to be better than this. Abuse of prisoners of any kind was strictly forbidden. The realist in him replied that every warband had this sort of evil in them, and the idealist argued that his would not be allowed.

"Who are they?" Charles asked, idealist winning out over the realist. It was clear that was going to be what killed him in the end. He was sure of it.

"Charles, we got some comp'ny. A lot of it actually." A low sort of woman's voice called behind them both from the barn door, sliding open quickly to see in the usual blue engraved steel, Azura Thrym the Wolf. Famed huntress of his warband, and lifelong friend of Charles, his crutch. She stared at them both, a mean scowl forming in her damaged face. "Am I interrupting something?" The indignation on her face showed her true just nature, even if it was an accusation towards Charles. A good woman through and through.

"Azura, no you didn't. Someone's been hurting our friend here." Charles said to quickly explain, dusting off his black leather clothes and sheathing his dagger. Little Pan looked down silently, always afraid of Azura, called her the big bad wolf, despite being anything but.

"Are they now? Give me a name little one and I'll see to it." The blue plated huntress growled in her unnatural deep voice. She was born a little more wolf than the rest of her tribe tended to. It left her with a sort of growl prone voice and unusual teeth. Never the most attractive girl, Azura was feared by most, but Charles knew her from childhood. No one was ever a knight in shining armor more than her. She was the pride of the mines, the real full blooded huntress, and when her people, when her friends, were targeted she came to the rescue. She was no big bad wolf, no matter how much she pretended to be.

"You wait here little one, and when I get back we will sort this out." Charles called back to Pan, whom did nothing, but nodded quietly. Stepping outside the barn, the dim light of an autumn sun greeted him. Same sort of dreary hell that greeted him every fall. "As for you Miss Thrym, what do we have knocking on our door?" Charles replied taking stock of his camp. Outside tents and Faunus were everywhere, some standing watch, others digging trenches, some taking a piss in the direction of Fort Castle, a daily insult to which they replied with the rare cannon blast. Never really struck anything, but with the Walls of Fort Castle so close the separate forces could literally shout at one another. In fact many of them had grown accustomed to.

Charles' cousin had taken to calling them the "Friends on the wall", heckling the gunners of Fort Castle daily, shouting curses and sharing stories about how one would do something to the others mother. It was very clear that neither force was willing to make any move, so both factions simply dug in, taking maybe a shot a day. Fort Castle had not enough dust to shell the sieging Faunus, and his men and women didn't have any guns to knock down the walls. Instead they shouted all sorts of expletives at each other. At least a comment on his mother was less likely to send Charles to an early grave.

Fort Castle itself was something else. Crafted half from what his people called "the old fort", ruins of some previous structure, before Remnant was a remnant, fused with a modern keep. The stone was, at least from the outside, a white sort of cobblestone or marble, mixed with the modern carved stone slants. Either way it was old, founded by some warrior whom human legend had it killed the last of his tribes' kings. In their story that woman just oppressed small Faunus villages. Charles supposed it would be his turn to make up lies when he took the old fort.

"Seems' lot of the Leo clansmen, come in our camps with their targe and claymores, and I mean a load of them." Azura said shaking back Charles to the world of today. 'So the Leo was it?' The Leo were a type of Faunus not native to Vale, pushed into it from something they referred to as the clearances of Mistral. They moved into the lowlands just north of forever falls, taking with them their culture and martial skill. Lion like in looks, and constantly wanting to show off a sort of vain bravery, they were one of the first to raise the flag of rebellion.

"Who is the leader?" Charles asked feeling confused. Leo clansmen would mean more men and women to fight, but the Leo were the ones heading the fight in forever falls. The scattered couriers claimed they were fighting close enough to Vale to make Tyrant Geordie send his own son off to fight them.

"Murray." Azura added as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Cithaeron Murray the Fang!? Isn't he supposed to be leading the fight south?" Cithaeron, or Murray as he preferred being called, was the big leader of the fight near Vale's capitol, famous for loses, but ones so bloody it sent the Vale's army home in tatters. He was as legend, as he was tenacious, large and loud. At least so they said.

"Maybe likes the north better Charles." Azura responded thinking nothing of the Faunus hero. She was that sort of type never believing much until she saw it. Something Charles had always inclined to agree with.

"What do we do about the girl's beatings?" Charles said somberly changing the subject to the previous and more emotional one as he pushed through the camp. The ground was mostly flat with trees and mud boundless. This place was rather soaked throughout autumn. Useful when attacking caravans, annoying when sitting on a siege.

"I'll handle that one Charles, don't you worry. Better play everyone's favorite; I can be the big bad wolf." Azura replied. They had always been close. She had pretty much been Charles' bodyguard since he turned five. She beat up school bullies for him, stood up to the mine's guardsmen when they wronged him. She even unlocked his aura, taught him to fight almost like a hunter, though never with the same heroic grace she had. Now she was taking on his devil's work of disciplining the warband. Charles earnestly believed he never deserved as good a companion.

"And here we have the mess." And so it was. Leo all around, men and women, some with reddish hair others with gold, but the lot were all muscle, and had half a foot on any of his people, the tallest of them easily had a foot on Charles. Most of them had fairly tan skin, dressed in loose cloth and furs with bronze armor additions, common of their Mistrailian homeland. Though their weapons were of special significance to the Leo, most armed with traditional Claymore's and round wooden shields similar to the Mistralian bronze ones. Some had more modern equipment, but few wielded them as proudly as their sword and targe.

Out of the corners many of these Leo seemed to start dispersing into the camp, some of the Simian Tribe of Forever Falls in toe as well. The force was slightly overwhelming and strangely professional. Leo marched in orderly lines, though on arrival many broke out to roar defiance against the walls of Fort Castle. Seems his warband had near doubled in size in less than an hour.

"Charlie!" In a sea of Leo and their Simian allies the man of the hour was visible, or more like audible, even over the cacophony of a mass march. Although butchering his name, Charles felt a bit of a smile cross his lips; wasn't often he got to meet a Faunus hero. Seeing the famed Murray was far different than hearing about him. The Faunus was not so much taller than any other Leo, but carried himself with certain gravity. It made him appear a titan among beasts. He had the toothiest smile Charles had ever seen, a band of red hair from the top of his head to the tip of his beard was unmanaged, seeming like one big entity, only interrupted by red round furry ears. He had stuffed himself into bronze armor shaped in the form of a bare chest, much as Mistralians did, but patches of deer furs popped out of the lining a sign the man could not fully deny the cold autumn air.

"Cithaeron Murray I can only assume?" Charles asked with outstretched arm hoping to respectfully grasp his hands in a healthy shake. That audacious mass of bronze however was not so timid. That beast just picked up Charles in a hug crushing the full grown Faunus against said breastplate. Charles thought often about how he would die, never was it in the arms of a bronzed Adonis.

"Lad, we are companions in arms, call me Murray all my friends do!" He gave as his reasoning for the embrace, voice thick with his people's accent. He had no problem lifting Charles, despite his weight, gear, weapons and now shattered authority. Azura as always was there to rescue him, that beautiful armored beast of a woman.

"Murray, put'em down else I'll get mad." She said in a low sort of growl, one Charles was very familiar with. Murray laughed but understood the point, dropping Charles, whom fell gently to his feet. A very nimble person if Charles could gloat about anything. With a cough for air, and quick dust off for comfort, Charles centered himself wanting the bitter business of the day to be the focus.

"Mister, or is it Chief Murray?" He said with a serious, but cordial tone, trying not to offend in the massive warrior. "What are you here north for if I may ask?" His Leo were a pleasant sight for sure, though the issue of food, water, space and other logistical nightmares would likely force a battle on him. More importantly he needed to look this gift horse in the mouth in case it was an omen of something more problematic.

"We're here to help you get yer castle boy!" Murray replied with a laugh and a thump against his breastplate. He spoke as if that was going to be the easiest thing in the world. The man was clearly endlessly endearing.

"What about Forever Falls?" Charles asked in almost unison with Azura, both speaking with a sort of suspicion. Forever Falls was the gateway to the north, and one of the few strong points for the Faunus, rich with small villages, but few cities and forts. Grimm population too high for most people, it was the perfect place for Faunus on the run.

"We lost there, I killed the prince, but some old man at arms rallied them, some sod named Philip Arc. Prefer being beaten by a farm hand than that prick of a prince. Ya should have seen it Charlie boy! I knocked his head off like a petty ornament. Rolled right into river it did, Ha!" Losing the prince of Vale was a massive blow to the royal forces, but not worth another bloody defeat. Especially bad enough for them to actually lose Forever Falls.

"Won't the army follow?!" Charles shouted losing his head a little. The North was finally turning in their favor, with the major regional power staying neutral. The royal army showing up would reverse all this fortune and work. Charles did not show the panic in him, but the paranoia of failure was whispering sweetly into his ear. Damn the self-doubt.

"None can, old Philip pushed us back, but they be bloodied up bad. The kings' pushing for another levy under the bastard Prince Lagune, or General Lagune as I hear he calls it. Calling for the allies too, pulling together a big force. Figure it'll take some time, and if they march up through Forever Falls, the Simians would bleed them like a fine pig. We need us a victory boy, we need this Castle before the bastard comes." The bastard Lagune was an up jumped individual of illegitimate royal descent. The war cost the lives and homes of many of the Faunus people, but it also ended a lot of the royal line. Suddenly an unimportant figure like Lagune became a General, despite no experience. It was strange, before the names of these people meant nothing to Charles, now he paid the utmost attention to Vale's royal politics.

"No pressure. Well we shouldn't have any major problem I'd guess at with these numbers. We need to start building ladders and making ropes… The storming will not be easy." Fort Castle had little in the way of dust, but plenty of soldiers left and arms to fire. The beginning would be bloody and seemingly one sided. Eventually they could break through, knock down the gates most likely. The numbers lost over something called 'Fort Castle' just made him angrier.

"Aye, nothin's easy Charles." Azura said speaking surprisingly softly for her taste. She always seemed to sense when Charles felt the pinnings of self-doubt haunt him. Resting her hand on his shoulders, he felt a little reassurance.

"Nah, it will be, our numbers will easily five to one." Murray said in a low sort of way, raising his brow and stroking his beard as he looked at the camp.

"Count again Leo." Azura added looking at the camp herself, it was very clear, that while Murray had brought a large warband to merge with the besieging force, the manpower was not even close to that, perhaps three, three and a half, but no. They had nowhere near that force. Murray however, turned to them with a twinkle in his eye and a toothy grin.

"Just wait, we got more coming from the north." He let out smiling the biggest Charles had ever seen. The old Leo let out a bellow of laughter, celebrating a victory they had not won yet. "The Taurus. Lad, you're more famous than ya think." Charles could not conceive of how. He built his warband on the concept of fighting without fighting. He won no real pitch battles, fought none either. Now the Taurus were coming, an irate bunch.

"How do you think we are going to feed them all?" Azura said in mild exasperation, sending Charles back to a cold reality. Food was already a problem. Looked like they really had only one choice.

"We'll have to win quickly." Charles said with a harsh breath, the autumn air feeling colder than normal.

It was in that moment, standing with Murray and Azura that a familiar horn rang out like a shock in the sky. Men and women dropped, ran or picked up weapons depending on whether they expected cannons, snipers or men at arms to come streaming down from those white stone structures. That horn used to mean traveling nobility to the mines when Charles was growing up. It was the sound used to signal the start and stop of work, when guards would come. When a poacher like him would need to hide his freshly killed deer. Charles had always run from that noise, now he was running to it.

Cannon shots, mortars, rifle shots, arrows, soldiers from the gates, none of it came. Instead an older man stood next to the lowest portcullis, it was difficult to make out his appearance from a distance, but he clearly had a shaved head and clean beard for the most part. His stance was straight, uncomfortably so, hands open to mark him no gunner or threat, though guards stood to his left and right.

"Faunus, send your leader, we wish to call for terms!" He shouted in a pristine pensive speech, something that always marked the worst kinds of men in Charles' limited experience. His words were met with mostly silence. Clearly not one of the usual 'friends on the wall' his cousin talked about. Didn't stop the hooded idiot from running up and acting like it.

"Fort Castle you can s-" Charles ran out and stopped the fool from saying anymore. If this really was terms, it was the one opportunity to get the castle with no bloodshed. Perhaps they had realized how doomed this fort was. The Lady of Fort Castle likely wanted out, to run away and leave her people. Cowards, but Charles was happy to accept an offer like that.

"I'm Charles, I lead this warband, if you have anything to say, say it!" Charles said rushing out in the clearing, making sure not to go too far as to be lost. His eyes shifted to the gunners along the wall and of course his loyal friend was right there with him, her tower shield larger than he, and strong enough to take any heavy guns they had.

"Charles, the Lady of Fort Castle wishes to give you an offer!" The old man replied with a certain practiced tone on his tongue. He spoke with no pleasure, no joy, but a distaste for this discussion of terms. Clearly the man was not in favor of whatever the situation. His displeasure was not Charles' concern however.

"What offer?!" Charles shot back, trying to keep calm and controlled despite the circumstance. The wind was picking up and the leaves blew with it. The camp behind him stirred with talk and motion, but outside the treeline, in the muddy build up to the castle, there was silence.

"In light of changing conditions we wish you to end your siege and turn your attentions elsewhere, as well as leaving Fort Castle lands to be held traditionally as it has always been held, Ad Infinitum." Poor terms, to demand all things to remain as if the war had never happened. A fools terms by any measure and as such that Charles would be better of hanging himself than accepting and turning back to his good men and women.

"And why would I do that?!' Charles shouted back to the sky and grasslands for all his proud warriors to hear. The muttering behind him turned to some hooting and hollering in his favor, and a small smile crossed his lips. As scary as this was, he felt reassured by those Faunus that put their faith in him.

"In exchange." The man began, and though distant, Charles could almost see the devil's scowl on him. He choked on his words, the disdain for Charles and his kind on the old knight's face was so clear. Still the man had some integrity, his difficult to make out eyes never seeming to leave Charles, nor did his stance ever breaking. "My Lady offers her hand in marriage and the arms and armies of Fort Castle with it."

***** Well hello everyone. First off sorry for the late release, I got rather ill over the course of the last few days, and hopefully I can catch up a bit as we go on. I've decided to describe the Faunus tribes with names based on the family or species of animal they are based on. I.E. Leo for lion-people and Simian for monkey-people.**

**In announcements Autumn Vale will now be betaed by the illustrious TCR. I can think of no one more fit to be a beta for the Vale series. His support has been unmatched and I have loads of respect for him.**

**Next is, for those not reading Melting Vale, if anyone one here isn't I'd recommend it, I'm hosting an art competition details on there that I might be spreading to Autumn if anyone would like to submit for there.**

**Either way Next Chapter Qrow finds employment and perhaps unintentionally the strings of a puppet.**


	4. Chapter 4: A Last Invention

Chapter 4: A Last Invention

Qrow the Young Hunter

"Friedrich you should play for me!" Qrow's little sister shouted grabbing her new friend by the shoulders. Her eyes reflected the young Schnee boy's hair perfectly, the child was not that much older than Summer. He seemed a bit withdrawn, his blue eyes not as bright as his brother's smiling sapphires. The older Wilhelm was amused by energetic Summer's audacity to demand much of anything from them, taking it much more affably than Qrow, whom found such familiarity with the high stations dangerous.

In such a short time Qrow had become somewhat comfortable with Wilhelm, a talent that was treacherous for a man to have. Anyone that good at making friends was not to be trusted. "Come on little brother, you should play her a song when we get back home. You were showing everyone the other day." Wilhelm said not coming to his brother's rescue, much to Friedrich's displeasure.

Qrow wanted to call the atmosphere tense, but that young Schnee found a way to make it just not. The familiarity in his tone, the way he treated everyone as a dearest friend. It had only taken a few minutes to convince Qrow of this mission. A trek out to a distant Faunus settlement, one within Schnee holdings. It was home to one of the family's many dust mines built right into the local mountains. The highest of them ended in a perch perfect for nevermores, and just as one would suppose two of the winged monstrosities had built a nest there. Wilhelm had hired Qrow to remove the newest grimm tenants, work he could very well agree with. Finding out the trip would be between the four of them, Summer, Wilhelm, and the ever sullen Friedrich was a little unnerving.

"There is no point in the piano. If I can't play better than a machine I'm wasting time." Friedrich said with a cool sort of lonely gaze. He was thin and tall for his age, skin with that unnatural Schnee pale. He dressed in purest white, with little in the way of accents on his clothing. The sullen boy was allowed along, with his military style white coat, a white sort of cape thick to keep him warm. He was a severe sort of child, and one Summer had decided would be her friend or she would die trying. With these sorts of people that was far too likely an end of the lower classes like the Roses.

"For me!" Summer voiced kicking around in her fine leather setting. Qrow winced at the comment afraid Summer's simple answer might offend their new employers. However Friedrich just frowned and shook his head where Wilhelm smiled and patted the little brother on his head. The strange car cabin they were riding in was set like a carriage with the passengers looking at one another. The inside was finely decorated in a mixture of wood, metal and leather. This was not the fine silks that Qrow would have expected from this kind of wealth, but the Schnee seemed surprisingly naturalistic in their decorations, preferring fine over extravagant. This sense of moderation was likely what propelled them to infinite wealth, among other things of course.

"You should not worry so much about what father says. You enjoy piano, you do not need to be perfect." Wilhelm said lightly to his brother, the gentler man ruffling Friedrich's hair. He pouted for sure, but the young Schnee did nothing to complain, letting his short silver hair be mussed up a little. It put Qrow at ease to watch them despite himself. The two reminded him of his own family, though the difference between Summer and Friedrich was apparent to anyone at first glance.

"Yes I do." The boy replied to his brother a little bitterly, but it did not seem to faze Wilhelm in the slightest. Instead he shrugged defeated though with smile. Qrow tried to turn away from the two, looking outside the passenger's cabin. The ride so far had been unusually stable, lacking the jerky motions he had grown to associate with cars. Outside, looking through a thin glass frame, was field's endless. Winterstown was distant from here, but the valley was very similar to the area around it though still dark, being earlier than sunrise. The elevation was increasing and with it, so did the trees. They were slowly approaching the mountains and so the early season snow seemed to start appearing in melting patches.

"Friedrich teach me how to play when we get back promise!" Summer asked, still bouncing in her seat. The little one had no fear for the two lordly people they rode with, easily tricked by Wilhelm's comforting atmosphere and Friedrich's relatable age. Qrow hadn't been lulled into forgetting his station. He was well aware that asking such things was beyond unacceptable.

"Summer I don't thi-" Qrow began, but a hand stopped him. Wilhelm had reached over grasping the red hunter's knee, giving him a wink as if to say 'leave it be'. Summer kept on the poor boy and at some point he seemed to mouth 'fine' without saying anything. His brother smiled at this, leaving the two children to play. Instead those cheerful blue eyes turned back to Qrow, making him feel uncomfortable. He disliked the attention.

"Mr. Rose I for the life of me can't remember what we were talking about. Could you do me the kindness of reminding me?" Humble for what should have been a spoiled rich kid. Years of working in the family business must have groomed him for this sort of personality.

"Just over Feudalism. You say you are not a fan of the new republic movement, yet are a critic of this war. Aren't the Lords pushing this?" Qrow answered turning back outside. Talking about politics to the social elite was dangerous. Some considered Hunters an uplifted social class, but the Feudal lords were something else. He had always heard stories of plots and conspiracy, how they dragged the little people into their schemes. Qrow wanted their money, not their politics.

"The southern lords maybe." Wilhelm Schnee hissed clicking his tongue as he spoke. Wilhelm was not one to look uncomfortable ever. It was almost funny to look suave and disgusted all at the same moment, arching into his chair and delicately placing his hand to his forehead. The lightness in his touch as he only let the tips of his fingers actually made the contact the funniest part. Born for the stage. "To speak justly I am a fan of neither the lords nor the republican opposition. The age of dust has offered us new opportunities, but both have forgotten it was the old ways that kept us safe. The common people forget the stability this system insures and the royal family forgets their purpose. This has brought war and now everyone suffers." So it was the suffering of the people that motivated Schnee opposition to the war, so be it, Qrow was a fan of fables anyway.

"I don't mean to go beyond my bounds." Qrow began only barely catching himself from saying more. Qrow tried as best he could to ignore it, but he had to admit the Republic of Vale was a much sweeter verse then the Kingdom of Vale, especially when it was that kingdom that had cost him a mother and much of his freedom.

"We're friends now Qrow, speak true."

"Shouldn't the dust allow us to move beyond the old system? I don't consider myself radical, but the grimm do not require armies to maintain." And thus the old provincial military system would die with the grimm threat.

"Exactly. Maintain. I am not content with that. We have carved a small piece of safety out for us, a bonfire we just barely started to nurse, and yet everyone forgets the darkness is still out there. Dust could allow us to break free; as the enemy sits outside the flame we can spread it, build and expand. Push back the darkness." Wilhelm spoke with a passion, hands in motion providing emphasis. This was a practiced speech, one the Schnee politician had used before to insight the gentle and common. "To do this we need structure. We need people raised at birth to wield a sword like yourselves and our knights. Others wield the pen to administer and lead like myself. Lastly, those to wield the plow and pickaxe to feed and fuel. Feudalism lets us train from the day we breathe for one purpose. That is powerful." There was still something. Something that made Qrow look out to his little sister, still playing with her new friend. What of her, didn't she deserve a better life?

"But what of the…" Qrow clicked his tongue trying to think of exactly how to phrase it. The lordly had not the cleanest reputation, but were a spiteful lot when questioned about it. "Reports of abuse?" Of his family, and the uprooted Faunus, of the poor, the unwanted, the stationlesss and those who wished to escape. Qrow did not want to see Summer becoming another huntress.

"Abuse." Wilhelm stopped to whisper, seeming to try and absorb the word, taste it and feel it. Qrow was just pleasantly surprised his employer did not fire him on the spot. "It comes from fools who were not taught that every man, woman and child of those three groups is so very necessary and equal. Fear united us, with the bonfires of dust pushing back the darkness we need to spread the light. New lands, new opportunity for everyone. Perhaps it is not the system that has failed us, but the ignorance of our chosen king and his supporters." That was radical.

"Dangerous talk." Qrow said eyeing Wilhelm, who smiled noticing. It had only occurred to him now that the Schnee businessman had been testing Qrow the entire time, feeling out his allegiances and reactions. Whatever it was seemed to please the silver haired gent. He combed his hair with his fingers and just returned a sweet smile.

"Oh my you are right. I can be passionate about this; my fiancé is currently stuck in her Castle. Faunus are causing her quite a bit of trouble so I want to see peace come soon. Hopefully we can pressure the King into a repeal." A fiancée trapped in another castle? "I mean to insight no unnecessary action against our good King Geordie." Wilhelm finished with a small friendly chuckle. Unnecessary, such a vague sort of standard.

"My my, seems we have arrived." Wilhelm whispered to himself as the whole car began to jerk to a slow stop. Qrow let out a breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding. In all the tenseness, the thought to check outside again had never crossed his mind. The daylight was bright outside, fresh on the morning. The sun had only risen in the last few minutes.

The car doors opened from outside, guardsmen of some sort, dressed in the common white uniforms, repeater rifles on their backs, the perks of Schnee wealth. Summer rushed out before Qrow had a chance, stepping on everyone's feet along the way, troublemaker she was. Qrow had half the mind to shout at her, but Wilhelm let out a laugh, finding the whole affair amusing. Watching Summer, Qrow understood why. The girl dived into the first major patch of mountain snow, the first bit of it they had seen since leaving home. Here she was making a snow angel, soaking her own clothes in icy melt.

"Miss Rose, if you could be my escort?" The older Schnee gentleman asked forming a proper loop in his arms for little Summer to cling to. Qrow's little sister kicked herself up and jumped at the chance, wrapping both her tiny arms around the elder of the Schnee brothers. Her snow covered form dampened Wilhelm's jacket, but he did not seem to notice. It wasn't formal or proper, but rather a sweet gesture to the little girl. Something not just Qrow noticed. Around them the village people, Faunus mostly, took note and looked approvingly at their lord's son. One willing to be humble, even equal with a little girl, one to come all the way to a small place like this, they couldn't help, but approve. Mr. Wilhelm Schnee loved his stage and Qrow couldn't help but wonder how much of this was another act.

Little Friedrich seemed to notice too, giving an irritable sigh as he chased after his brother. Qrow felt a mixture of positive nostalgia and discomfort in this place. Around him was a village like his own. The trees were more sparse, and mountains more plentiful, but the spirit the same and that frosty air. The kind that turned one's lungs into a tundra if they didn't let it out. That soul sapping cold, it was a true Mountain village.

The layout was much the same. Taking steady steps towards Wilhelm and the far mansion that seemed an odd, almost concentrated nucleus to the village. All around hovels made from brick and straw seemed backed together, fused likely for warmth, almost none more than one floor in height. Qrow was surprised to see most had some sort of heater attached to them despite the dilapidated outer structure, though they all seemed unique with different parts and pieces.

The street, or lack thereof, was just an icy traveled trail down the center of town, again a reminder of home, both shared a near frozen river way drifting down the incline, scenting the hair with a frosty wetness. A smith, an inn, a storage house, even a would-be farm were erected by this thin river way not three feet in width that lead up to the mansion.

His home village was off by only two major inconsistencies. His was a hunting and fur producer, but this was a tightly compacted mining town and where his was filled with old hunter families like his, this place was predominantly Faunus, with only the uniformed soldiers breaking the sea of Furry ears and gaunt faces. None of them seemed to mind the Schnee much, or bother them as Wilhelm walked up to the village mansion. Perhaps they knew it was best not to question, or were so use to them. This was not the hot bed of revolution by any standards, though the division between Humans and Faunus was apparent. They never spoke to Qrow, looking down when he bothered to check. The higher status did not give him any euphoria, only discomfort at the estranged looks.

The mansion itself was old woodwork, unpainted, but finely constructed. It was hexagonal in shape, with large porches and a center tower, maybe three levels high. This was a rather nice summer home, maybe quaint by wealthy standards, but wonderful to him. If he could raise Summer in a home like this.

"Come in, he's expecting you Master Wilhelm." A rather tall woman spoke, from behind the door, opening the front for entry. She was rather tall, almost peculiarly so, though thin, dressed in a high class ladies dress. Though scuffed up some with what looked like dust residue. Most definitely a Faunus, the fox-like orange pointed ears up ending in white tips, a similar tail plum behind her. The most interesting thing was the level of comfort at which she spoke.

"Miss Nimh!" Wilhelm said with a bow, Summer nervously stepping behind him. "I've missed your company."

"Hi, I'm Summer." The younger Rose whispered not wanting to illicit ire. Qrow could see the way she stared at this Miss Nimh, with wonder captured in her twinkling eyes. "Your tail looks fluffy."

"It is Miss Summer, I can promise that." The Fox replied with a happy grin, looking now to their most brooding member of this quartet. "Master Friedrich, I've missed you. You've grown."

"Thank you Nimh." He responded politely, the child seeming relatively unmoved.

"Oh my manners, Miss Nimh this gentlemen with us is Mr. Qrow Rose." Wilhelm said with a certain flare. "Mr. Rose has come to solve the nevermore problem."

"Right this way, Master Rose. Master Wernher is working inside." Stepping inside the house was shocking. The inside had little in the way of traditional furniture or living space. Instead tables were covered in gears and canisters, models of some sort of balloon-less airship were strung about. Other half finished weapon designs from rifles to swords strung about the room. Most of the walls had been knocked down, and from any room in the building, save the upper tower or a small annex, likely a guest room, one could look into any of the other work rooms.

Summer had always had a fascination with mechanics, she had snuck off from her school teachers and such to visit their village smith and machinist and learn what she could. At first it bothered the old village smith, but soon he was begging for her apprenticeship. Here Summer let loose, running from model to model, shouting some sort of technical nonsense. Made Wilhelm laugh, but Nimh found it not as amusing, instead she clicked her tongue in annoyance. Probably the home's groundskeeper.

"Just don't knock anything over." An old man spoke from his workbench. Qrow had barely noticed him shadowed in low lighting, hunched over some sort of mechanical mess. He was a fairly fat man, no question about that, but well built. Had he stood, Qrow imagined the man much taller than the hunter.

"Uncle, it's a pleasure to see you, I've come with Mr. Rose. to-" Wilhelm started, but the older man, Wernher, Qrow supposed, raised his hand in protest, his other stroking the old man's only visible hair, a silver beard.

"I must figure this out first. I am so close. With this design I could combine a fire shot, two separate blades and even a small pick or scythe into one single design. The automatic fire cannon must be small, smaller than most anything, effective and finished, but it is much too volatile for the market." Wernher did not bother to turn around or check anything. He instead just saved his focus to the weapon on his desk, looking over design maps and other gibberish Qrow couldn't understand.

While everyone waited in silence, Summer approached and Friedrich followed. The old man seemed not to notice and Wilhelm seemed content to let them. Soon Summer was at eye level with the desk, standing on her very tippy-toes to see the work being done. The way she looked so sparkle-eyed at it, Qrow felt very happy for his sister.

"Mister...it explodes right...the fire gets into the rest of the dust sometimes." Summer finally said, stopping the old machinist in his tracks, his blue eyes finally stopping to look at her.

"That is right. I can't find a way to contain the flame." The old Schnee replied, smiling at the little Rose, her eyes reflecting his beard. The inventor seemed not the least bit intimidating to Summer, who sat thinking with furrowed brow.

"Why not use force dust?" Friedrich was the next to speak, looking over the canisters of the mystical material. He seemed to follow Summer's lead, taking the inquiry another step forward. Qrow understood little of what device they meant, but having two children of different stations work to solve a puzzle with modern Vale's most famous inventor was a sight that would make most scoff at the very idea.

"Then how would I spark it." The uncle said with a laugh challenging the children even further.

"Put a pin on the back of the slidy thingy." Summer said with a smile, pointing to something on the paper. 

"And how would I...That…" The inventor stopped in his tracks, looking down at his work and the solution of a child. Qrow had no idea what it all meant, but it was clear enough Summer had inadvertently solved the problem. The old man's hardy laugh cemented that truth. "Little miss I think you may have just done something of great importance. We have much to test." He continued spinning himself out of the chair and to the guests.

"Young man, are you this girl's….father?" Qrow's theory was right. Wernher was most certainly taller than him. The tallest of the Schnee family aside from the knight Weiss. His size in width also easily outmatched the rest of his family.

"Brother." Qrow replied in turn correcting a common mistake.

"Interesting. You are a hunter correct? After the two little bird friends of ours are we finally?" The old inventor asked stroking his silver beard.

"Yes Uncle." Wilhelm replied for Qrow, finally finding a place in the conversation. He was right about to start reaffirming terms, sliding out the previous contract, but Wernher completely ignored that, turning around back to his prototype. The nephew tried to hide it, but being ignored vexed him, clearly someone disliked not being the center of attention.

"Well you're free to use whatever I have around. They are a climb from here, ask around and I'm sure you will find a way. I'll have food for you when you're done. Right Miss Nimh?" The inventor stated waving his hands to the many models and prototypes around the room. He did not wait for Nimh to reply before continuing. "In the meantime the little one can be my assistant, good mind she had. If you don't mind miss?" Summer nodded at this, only half paying attention as she explained something instead to Friedrich, the two of them still trying to figure out the puzzle.

"Understood, what proof do you want for the kill?" Qrow replied looking forward to the hunt for the day. A long climb meant his morning was far from over.

"The bone mask please." The famed inventor replied sitting down at this desk. "A lovely addition to my collection."

Wind is perhaps the most evil sort of cold. Ice was not something Qrow was afraid of; he was born in the north, land of wolves and snow, but that wind. The thick leather vest, the woolen cloak, even fur lined boots seemed ineffectual at defending him. Each meter up the cliffside felt like another layer of ice, and it wasn't even that cold. Just the damnable wind.

Climbing along the rocky mountain path, if ever one could call it a path, Qrow reached up, his black leather shielded hand touching the exposed stone of the cliff face, jutting out of the earth, a support beam to any traveler. It was no comfort however, the wind was so chilled the stone nearly burned at the touch. Wincing, Qrow pulled himself up on it allowing his boot to push into a small opening between the moss and snow covered rock, a vertical ladder of stone.

The climb had been a long one, started with a normal crossing stair like path up the mountain, soon devolved into an angular climb. Finally all semblance of a path had been erased, the angle beginning to invert on him. Sure it had been his idea to climb up the cliffside of the mountain instead of the wedge, but that old goat herder told him it was a path, not a set of holes. The slow progression up the broken stone, moss, and tree remnants had provided Qrow with ample opportunity to review his life choices.

Still, the climb was beginning to get easy. Though the ice portion of this mountains facade was increasing, the peak of its wedge like form was coming into view. Qrow's muscles ached, burned even. The fight hadn't even started and he had destroyed his arms and legs. Despite that, seeing the edge put a reservoir of energy into his movements, and though the cold ruined his lungs, Qrow felt ablaze. The hunt was about to start. All this would pay off when he caught that nevermore nest completely off guard. Those two oversized vultures were going to pay for a thousand fires after this, and the largest meal that fat Schnee bank account could afford. Then off to Vale city, never to climb an ice covered mountain in autumn again.

Jumping, Qrow caught the ledge, muscles torn from the climb, but sturdy enough to lift his body up. Above, the wind carried with it bits of snow. The sky was grey, though the sun was fairly low on the horizon. The trail that could have been his was thick with trees, a much more pleasant angle he could not wait to go back down. Could be a leisurely woodland stroll, but that was to his left.

To his right was the nest. He popped in right next to it, the mass of branches and trees crushed into a bowl of flammable material likely hiding a fine batch of eggs. It was all ready to be cooked. First though was a slumbering threat crusted in bits of Autumn snow. The nevermore almost looked like a statue sleeping there, ignoring the bits of light that came from the low sunset. Its partner was nowhere to be found, perfect for his plan. Fighting a nevermore was not exactly what Qrow had hoped for in terms of contracts, but two at a time would warrant a much higher hazard pay than he was getting.

His plan to get the drop on it had worked. Crouching on one knee, the nevermore was still asleep, unaware of Qrow's presence. It gave him a moment to prepare, his black and red leather vest was tight, a bandolier of dust vials running across the hardened chest piece. Two weapons hung off his hips, one a double barreled hand cannon, filled with packets of fire dust, on his left a fire dust-syringe loaded crossbow meant to cook a grimm from the inside. One way or another he would roast this bird.

Spreading a little piercing dust on his main weapon, the family scythe, the blade gave off a dim grey glow, a light heat radiated a bit of balm against the high winds. Qrow was no engineer, but dust, that was something he knew. Turned a tool used mostly for farming into an unparalleled hunter's weapon. Keeping low to the ground as to make no sound, Qrow readied the scythe, hoping to lodge it into the space between the bone mask and its head, a weak fleshy spot.

Sometimes it all came down to luck, and Qrow was never the best gambler. Whether a deer or some sort of small rabbit, it did not matter. A crunch in the slopped forest snapped the nevermore to life, its eyes popping open, two of the large red ones opening right in front of Qrow.

"Shit."

Qrow rolled backwards, catching the heavy wind of the beast's roar, flapping its wings in a challenge. Flipping back onto his feet Qrow activated his semblance. The world reduced its speed, letting him think his actions out, give him the mental edge in the fight.

The nevermore bent its massive wings to fire a volley of quills at Qrow, but that extra time let the hunter turn that attack into an opening. Firing the cannon, a bolt of flame struck the wings of the beast, the burning smell a lovely one to Qrow, but that was not enough.

Tossing the cannon aside, Qrow pulled the crossbow out. The bird panicked, its wings aflame, unable to fly away it flapped to cool the fires, displaying the black breast out for him, a nice target for a bit of fire dust. Normally a projectile was meaningless against the chest of a nevermore, it would shrug off the damage, but this bolt was loaded with a syringe full of fire dust. The old Schnee said it should penetrate, here was to hoping it would.

The bolt went in, red lines of light spreading from the wound. Perhaps this would have killed it in time, but Qrow was not stupid enough to watch and find out. Spinning around, the snow kicking up as he did it, he ran, letting the icy air flood his lungs and rejuvenate him. He didn't have to see it to know the nevermore was chasing him on foot, wings burned and grounding the bastard for a time.

Qrow would never be as fast as a grim, but crows were always smarter than vultures. Pulling two vials, one of ice dust the other of fire, he smashed them together. The leather gloves protected him from the glass, but the force of the explosion almost broke his arms, or at least it felt that way. However the old trick worked. A flood of mist exploded with the dust, water based smokescreen. A giant death bird was impossible to dodge, but easy to trick.

The nevermore shot its quills into the cloud, just as expected, but Qrow had already made a sharp turn into the tree lining. For whatever reason, the monster quickly ran out of feathers to fire, perhaps a would-be slayer already tried the beast. Did it give up, absolutely not. Grimm had a blood lust to them when attacked, and so it charged into the mountain forest, shattering trees in the mist, snapping trunks from the earth.

Blind, grounded, blood boiling and entangled by shattered trees, the nevermore had lost all trail of Qrow. At least until the moment a new flame appeared, a crescent of red in a thick mist. The bird could not see Qrow, instead saw his claw, enriched with fire, its movements a rapid storm of slashes cutting up the nevermore's face. It tried destroying the flame crescent, but the blade was too fast, and the monster was blind to its origin.

Finally it was the kill, the last moment, blade still red with the fire dust flame, Qrow charged in. The nevermore's last vision was likely Qrow's form emerge from the mist just in time to swing it's blade down into its fleshy head.

One dispatched, another to go, Qrow wiped the red blood of his enemy from the woolen cloak he wore. It was a thick sticky mess removing the bone mask from a grimm of that size. The smell of it would haunt him all the way to town; hopefully they had a warm bath waiting for him. Still there was the matter of the nest.

He had enough fire dust to spare, spreading it along the giant wooden mess. Eggs were there, and so he smashed them, lest the monsters grow to be a threat once again to the town. Next he started the flame. The nest burning would keep others from moving in, and the smokey ash smell would wash away some of the stick from the nevermore as well as warm an exhausted hunter. Worn, tired and still a long way from the village, Qrow had another kill left. He would return tomorrow, restocked and ready. In a moment of madness, he decided to look out at the world's end, the wedge peak looking out into the mountain range of Vale.

Standing at that peak, Qrow tempted fate, and below he could hear it. He only had a moment to activate the semblance. Time slowed, just at the right moment, for at the peak of the world, right where the cliffs end, the slain nevermore's partner flew up black wings unfurled. 'So much for waiting'

******Hey sorry for the wait! I got caught up in a lot of nonsense and family travel! This is the first bit of heavy action I've done so far, I tried to make it feel a bit more like Qrow is a tactical hunter setting traps and planning, kind of like the witcher stories. Hope it came out well.**

**Also last Schnee to be shown, I promise. The number of Schnee only gets smaller from here! :D Hope everyone didn't mind some of the politicking in the beginning, thought it might be interesting to bring up the kind of Republic vs Monarchy stage of imperial Europe, but in Vale terms. All that lovely industrial world stuff. Also congrats if you figure out what basically Summer just helped invent! :P**

**Last bit of news I might be unable to post next week. I will be on a family vacation and I'm not sure if I even will have internet, I will try, but I literally might be unable to get on to post.**

**Thanks everyone and please leave a review, it helps so much!**


	5. Chapter 5: Price of Titles

**Chapter 5: Price of Titles**

**Azura Thrym the Huntress**

"The Taurus, are led by 'The Taurus'? Charles I don't think I quite get your new friends." Azura mused with a mild bit of whimsy. Ignoring the very Taurus chaps that seem content to gawk and hiss at the giant that protects the cat that laid the golden egg. They would pick up the blade when it mattered, whether they thought well of Azura or not, so it did not matter. None of them would lift a finger to her anyways, the bull-folk were not nearly as fearless as the stories said. Stories, what rubbish.

"Aye, I hear she's some sort of monster. Say she eats grimm to become'em." Murray spoke up awkwardly sitting among them, a new and fast friend of Charles already, though Azura did not know what to make of him. People spoke of the gent like some sort of hero, 'never won a battle yet he was the hero eh?' Sad day when their peoples' paragons could only get close. Either way his temperament was good. He had backbone to say that at least even if the Leo acted like a silly old fool.

"That's stupid Murray." Azura replied, the concept of eating grimm to gain their powers was idiocy. Nobody ever learned to breathe underwater from eating fish as far as Azura knew.

"I said I heard it, never said nothin' about it not bein' stupid." Murray finished with a laugh, the big brute slamming his hairy fist into his chest plate. Idiot would almost break the bronze that way, hand along with it Azura figured. Better than the Taurus guards around them, silent oddities they were all dressed in the same black and white garb with their strange curved single blades. Each soldier with a similar grimm bone mask carved from the white and red bone of a grimm's face. Eerie lot to tell the truth and Azura didn't like the smell of them. Anything that emulated the grimm were not friends to any being with a soul.

"Shush you two. They have their own customs, but we are all Faunus are we not?" Charles demanded, the boy looking small beside his giant and giantess. Still when he spoke Murray listened, the Leo infatuated with Azura's old friend. Here the three of them sat in a smoky tent with nothing but mats laid down to sit on and candles burning. Taurus guards at the ready both at the entrance and exit. This war tent, as the black clad bull-men called, was to serve as the meeting for Charles to see his newest devotee, the woman known as 'the Taurus'. Any luck, she was going to be just as eerie as the rest of her men and women.

"Aye Charles, and they are bloody weird customs for sure." Azura piped in unafraid and unwilling to shut herself up for the strange company. Charles scowled at her, but she just scowled back. It was their way. She had spent almost all twenty years of her life looking after that little boy, and he might be the boisterous and victorious revolutionary man to everyone else, but Azura would know Charles as the same boy she dragged out of the river lungs filled with water, boy she had to beat up bullies for, boy who couldn't hold his own a day in his life. Better that way, someone needed to humble the bastard.

"All Valeian are strange." Murray mumbled with a smile, taking note Azura's disregard for authority.

"Shut it Murray you were born here." Azura spat back in a growl, though Murray seemed to smile and wave it off. Azura had no tolerance for that. She could ignore Charles all she damn well pleased, but that was her privilege and hers alone.

"Aye and after we knock down old King Geordie's door I'll see Mistral gets its own fight." Murray started off rising fist in confidence. One war was apparently not enough for him. 'Has good ol'Vale not handin' you all the defeats one fool can take?' Azura mused feeling oddly curious at this sort of valiantry charming in a childish sort of way.

"We got one nation to fight here and now, and the Taurus want to fight it. So please. Stop your gossip and be mindful of your manners." Charles said lowly finding some balance of polite yet strong, leaning too far into the pleasantries for Azura's liking, but then again some dastardly folk would call her 'rude' so perhaps she was grading the boy too harshly.

"Ohh are we feisty now Charles?" Azure said in mock surprise grinning just a little. Charles seemed less amused, but more importantly their host even less so.

"Do you let all your subordinates undermine you?" The woman whom was called 'The Taurus' was exactly the sort of hassle Azura predicted. Draped in black cloth seemingly too thin for northern peoples, the sleeves of this strange charcoal dress long and loose and a belt of red cloth at the center. It seemed silken in origin, the patterns of red and white lines accenting it. The left hip allowed for that same slightly curved blade others had, this one however had a fine red cloth wrapped around its handle. 'The Taurus' was strangely thin, stepping so silently and daintily, yet rigid and unbent. She was as if floating to the floor. Worst and most strangely her face was completely obscured by white grim bone, a mask painted in a seemingly glowing red making the face of a monster only made better by her blood red horns that bent back through her perfect raven hair. Azura hated her.

"All speak freely in my camp, they only mean the best and are indispensable to me." Charles defended, his own eyes locked on the bone mask. 'Smart boy.' He had to keep appearances, but Azura could do as she pleased, scanning the woman for motives.

"But lack discipline. It is this reason I have never trusted the Leo." She started trying to bate Murray.

"My people live for their liberation; I am no chief who would rob a warrior of that. Been a while White-Bull." The Leo started biting onto the bate.

"Is that what they call me now?" More Taurus soldiers came in, dressed all in black resting a plate of teas before them. 'The Taurus' took her glass first sipping it through a small hole in her mask. Such a creepy woman Azura had never known. "The 'White-Bull' and the 'Fang' your people have such odd terms of endearment." She finished taking another sip and mocking Murray further.

"Strangers be the ones that call me that. As for strangeness ya call yourself the same name as your people. Isn't that a bit...how would you say? Audacious." Murray challenged, about to rise again before Charles grasped his shoulder as if to say no without saying it.

"We are all one people. This is silly. We are supposed to discuss this whole mess as equals and the terms I have been given." Charles started and drove to the point, something Azura was not about to derail. This was a strange woman, but not one to be played with like Murray. She was a man eater.

"Yes, one people. Faunus. We have been fighting for the Faunus for all my people's days in the north of Vale. We know what it means to shed blood for the cause of one people I promise." Azura cringed at that. Sure they had been in rebellion against Vale for generations, but only against the lords of Nördlichste. Often their lawlessness was seen as justification for all discrimination. "In interest of that I give you my personal name to use in private meetings, Akagura. Also in that interest I leave myself and my forces at your disposal. This is your territory and we will respect your command, for now." This Akagura paused to drink, taking a moment to herself. Murray gave a smile in relief that this was going to cause no authoritative dispute, but Charles seemed less convinced, instead hung on the woman's word, awaiting the conditions.

"In this same sentiment I hope you will listen to my advice on matters before acting on your own. Namely in not accepting this marriage. This is a Faunus fight, and while a marriage might make you a lordly man by Human law, you are not human. You will never be human. You shouldn't want to be such filthy creatures. This is our war; do not buy yourself humans to fight it." She might have been racist, but she wasn't wrong. King of Vale would not acknowledge the marriage and the army might join the cause though it was doubtful if they would ever fight a battle before losing heart and routing.

"I make no claim that we have friends in ol'Fort Castle, but what we do have is dust, arms and armor. Cannons, artillery, rifles. Horses and trucks. They be willing to give us more than soldiers and a false title. All for the low price of one ring on a finger. I say that is worth the effort Charlie." Murray cut in, not letting Akagura get her way. The Leo had been adamant about Charles accepting the offer and becoming the first Faunus Lord in all of Vale without breaking the law to do it. Talked about what it meant for Faunus and human relations. He wanted a free Vale, not a Faunus Vale. Azura didn't know which side she found herself yet. She did not hate humanity, but at the same time they were vile little things it seemed. She found fighting them as easy as grimm, except for children. Old men in their castles fat on the blood of others would never be saved, but little ones like Pan. That was ever confusing for a simple woman like her.

"Charles, think of your people. Marry into another tribe. Perhaps from Menagerie, it's a free Faunus republic whose aid could help us." The 'White-Bull' started attempting to turn Charles into a product to be sold to whichever ally mattered more.

"Whose aid is stretched thin fighting every country and is worthless this far inland." Azura piped in feeling her blood boil at the mention of Menagerie. An insult that whole place was. A prison turned into some pseudo-homeland that every Faunus national movement prayed would give them support. They talked of support, fought at sea and air, but where were they in Vale, Mistral, or any other of the kingdoms? The Republic of Menagerie was a pirate nation still desperately trying to survive as the true movement was fought in the fields. An unpopular opinion, but hers none the less.

"Faunus in southern Vale then." She began to try and appease Azura, voice filled with irritation. Clearly she did not care for being interrupted so much, though the bone mask made seeing her expression factually impossible. That was going to get irritable quickly.

"I am a bandit whose only claim to fame is a forest I bleed out of the sickly Lady of Fort Castle and a mine I broke out of by the very thin skin of my neck. I am worth nothing to anyone in this regard except a very desperate lady wanting not to starve to death on the floor, something I can understand. This is just a twist to the strange and absurd for me." Charles said laughing at the irony of whole conversation. The boy never forgot he was originally just a game hunter for a small mining village. In all this Azura regretted no one asking what he had wanted. This was after all his future. Playing this dangerous game of revolution for so long ideas of the future seemed silly. Azura knew she had also not asked, and grimaced at her own shallow friendship.

"I have said all that needs to be said. Anything you wish of the Taurus?" The young chief in all black and red put down her cup of tea right next to Azura's untouched one. Nodding knowing this conversation was going nowhere. Charles did not say it, but to his guardian wolf it was clear he was thankful the meeting was over. His shoulders slumped and breath silently released.

"I have a day to decide. I will think on your words." He offered, clearly not convinced of anything, setting his own half empty cup next to the one Murray had downed a few seconds ago. He stood first, Murray followed and Azure after that. The Guards posted at the door stepped aside in a moment. "Other than that, please have your men set up camp outside cannon range and dig in as much as possible. Thank you for your time 'The Taurus.'" Charles finished bowing as was custom for the Taurus.

"Understood. Good day Chief Charles, Huntress Thrym, Chief Murray." Akagura seemed merely to whisper, nearly silently rising and returning an ever mild bow, that bone mask hiding whatever hidden emotions she might have had about the meeting. Charles paid it no matter though. Politely as he could, he lead his entourage out of the tent. He gasped for air as soon as the boy managed to get himself out of the meeting, much like a child gasping for air after a swim. Murray laughed and Azura grinned, but slapped poor Charles on the back reminding him of where he was standing. a wet abysmal military camp surrounded by Taurus eyeing them strangely.

"It's alright Charlie my boy. She's just'a ripe bitch is all." Murray started saying it just loud enough to be in earshot of the tent. Charles gave him a sour look, but the Leo simply winked back smiled and stroked his red mane.

"Sounds like you're afraid of her Murray'boy." Azura started strangely defensive of the Faunus woman. Charles had enough of it and just shook his head making way to his own camp ignoring the two of them

"Murray we will meet the envoy tomorrow and I'll have an answer. Prepare the men and women for battle tomorrow in case I deny them or things fall apart. Better not give Fort Castle the time to come up with a plan." Charles seemed stressed, biting his thumb as if to use that pain to keep anchored to the moment, on today. Azura knew little of what she could do to help. In moments like this Charles would be locked in the maze of his mind until the boy found his way back. Azura stayed with him now to his right not saying a word. This wasn't the first nor last time he would act this way.

"Aye, don't worry Charlie. I think you'll find the Lady to your liking." Murray shouted to them as they left, off to prepare his warriors for battle. From the looks of it this whole thing was a toss-up. Azura would have to sharpen her blade. Charles would need it before this nightmare was over.

They walked together for a good while. Some of their band shouted congratulations at him, but Charles was still lost. They walked in silence. Whether he heard anything when he panicked like this was a question she never knew. Somewhere between former fields and tents Charles slowed down, allowing the heftier woman to catch up.

"What do you think of her?" He asked still biting his thumb and staring off into the abyss as he approached the converted barn house. "Murray is right. She' a bitch, I should know." Azura said trying to be at least a little funny about it. After all while she might not find this world funny others seemed to deem the dreariness hilarious.

"No need for animal puns." Charles replied, putting a dust round in any hope of having an easy conversation. The cat-like ears on him twitched and his expression was that of worry.

"Oh'nd you say I have no humor. She ain't worth trustin', 'The Taurus'. Her army makes her worth dealing with her, but never trust her." Azure could only answer truly; it was the only thing of worth to Charles. Lies would not comfort him or protect him from Akagura. Charles chewed on that for a moment, swiping back his black hair as if to clear his head.

"What do you think of the Lady and her offer?" He doubled up on the question yellow eyes looking for answers in Azara, but she had none.

"You asking if I like her?" She joked not wanting to disappoint Charles.

"You know what I mean Azura." He retorted nearly smiling, a small part of the joyous kid returning.

"You should know by now Charles I don't like anyone." She joked more, this kind breaking the wall Charles had built around himself. He tried to hide it, but the boy laughed, a thin smile on his lips he tried to shake off. His walking returned almost sort of rushed and uncomfortable with the crowds around him. Azura had no trouble following him through the mud.

"I just." He paused the thin smile fading quickly as his eyes returned a sad sort of quizzical look. Something was on his tongue, something he did not know how to say. "I didn't know if you would be….when we were kids everyone used

to say….Azura I."

"You were never man enough for me Charles don't even bother." Azura cut him off before he even began. They were meant for each other, but not quite in that way. What way exactly was a bit confusing for most, but it was definitely not that way. After all with the Lady of fort Castle and the endless admiration of their dear friend Murray he was liable to get a big head if any more of that sort of admiration came coming his way.

"Ha, you are an amazing friend Azura...I just wanted to make sure to think about it before I." Charles smiled at first, but stumbled again, a deep look of something heavy was in his eyes that tugged at him as he spoke.

"If I do this. I become a lord…" Charles was barely above a whisper, and as he spoke rain came in as if signaled. The cold or the words made him shiver as he said it, his hand shaking as he spoke so hushed the rain nearly drowned it. "There is no running Azura after that...I can't escape…We'll have to fight the other lords. Ice Marsh, Castle White, Vale...all of it." That was it; he was afraid. Charles was afraid of stepping it up, the responsibility, the war. Everything. He wanted to run away just like before. Run away from everything.

"We can't leave now you know that Charles." He couldn't hide anymore. Humanity would destroy them all if they did. They took away all choice. Running meant damnation for everyone, they had a responsibility. One Azura would not let him forget.

That was enough for him. He opened his mouth to argue, but bit down on his thumb instead, looked with enough pressure that, barring the gloves, he would have broken skin. No more conversation was necessary, and though Charles made no move to keep himself from the rain immediately, he quickly opened the door to his command center, inside just Pan whom was now restricted here until her safety was more easily assured.

"Welcome back my lord. Can I get you something?" Pan started, nervous seeing Azura with Charles. The little one adored Charles of late, though cautious of him as a Faunus. Azura however frightened the child beyond belief, like an attack dog that could be let loose at any moment. How could she blame the little one though, she looked the part of a monster and acted it most days. Took tougher monsters to hunt monsters after all.

"I am no lord yet little one. No thank you, unless Azura asks for anything all I want to know is what you think of the Lady of Fort Castle." It was still on his mind, but how could it not be? He was going to sell himself for a fortress and some cannons like a barrel of dust. Safe from the rain he did not dry himself, instead sat down in his chair to think, the already soaked clothes staining the seat. Azura chose instead to stand and let the rain drip off her armor.

"No one sees her. I hear she is sick. They say she's nice and pretty, but no one never met with her except the big knights. She was supposed to marry someone, a man, but it got postponed or somethin'." Pan babbled, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. Charles had little comment, but nodded at the girl's every word. A moment passed and the boy finally spoke something.

"Pan please play the Harmonica for me, the one I lent you….play anything."

There Charles was sitting, sunken into his seat at a table for one. Face aglow with candle light, but never as gaunt before as this. His face showed the skipped meals, the stress in his black hairs tainting it with scattered silver out of place for his age. The harmonica played and his amber eyes locked onto the table. The only plate and silverware was a map of Vale and chess pieces to mark its players. Beyond the forest stirred Vale's northern lords, all the armies and beasts risen against him, all the madness after this. How this map haunted him, a single candle to give it light. Here at the table that should have sat all the friends and family, was the curse he was stuck with. Lonely little Charles. How foolish he was to sit in the dark when friends could be close. How sad to sit there staring at a map for answers that were not there.

It hurt Azura to watch that struggle. Watch as Pan play her harmonica, watch as the fool ignore them both. Of all the things to torment him this was something she could not strike, could not kill. Responsibility for all their lives was something Azura could not do for him, could not coddle him as she always had. Charles was never meant to lead, fight wars. Too meek. He was not a hard man, was not Murray who relished it, or Akagura who felt nothing. He was a boy still, a boy who seemed to be the only one who hated the game.

"I'll take my leave Charles. Wake me when you decide. G'dnight sweet Pan. " Azura could not stand it a moment longer, did not even stay to see if Charles would dismiss her. She had to believe in Charles, the boy knew what to do. He had to. They all did. They had to be right or everyone was dead. 'Damn it all.' She cursed silently as she walked to her own tent finding her own surprise along with it. A woman in black, baring herself as if royal. The 'White-Bull'. A pale skinned wench if ever Azura saw one.

"Akagara right?" The huntress asked, knowing full well how she botched her pronunciation of it.

"Akagura. You are the wolf huntress Azura Thrym." She took a step closer than Azura wanted, getting more in her way.

"We spoke a moment ago what is it?" Azura had no patience for this. She was upset, angry, felt like hurting something. Not a smart time to bother her.

"I come to speak frankly" The pale hand of the bull reached out for Azura touching her gently on her cheek. Azure had the mind to bite it off, but Charles had enough to deal with. "They gain all their strength from you beast. You should be the one I speak to and whom they sing of." The hand was soft about delivering her toxic words, soft thumb brushing the heavy scarring on Azura's face.

"Don't even bother." Azura growled showing her teeth. Now that elicited some reaction, the white skinned Taurus, her hand pulling back, through her mask obscured whatever emotion Azura might have tasted. Too bad, it would have been lovely.

"I seek your partnership, for you deserve more respect." She spoke sadly, though the bone mask's expression remained all the same demonic face. "Stay with me beast and we can free our people with bowing to any of the human rabble." Azura had no intention of "staying" with her no matter the meaning or flattery.

"You stink of rot I be thinkin'. Rot and worms." She growled at the bull, unable to tell her reaction.

"My smell is not to your liking?" Akagura seemed more confused than offended, turning her head sideways, the bone mask seeming to express this despite never changing. It was an oddity among oddities.

"Lies smell. Leave me." Azura explained her metaphor, nearly barking it with her fury in full force.

"As you wish beast who should be Chief." She left, just as she came, the rain making her even more silent as she stepped through the mud. She seemed almost more grimm than Faunus, something that made Murray's previous joke much more serious. All things could wait however. Azura stepped into her tent feeling the weight of her armor for the first time. It shed like feathers off her, the blue and black of it dropping to the thin wooden plank she used as a floor board. Exhaustion stuck her and half naked half armored Azura collapsed into her meager floor mat. She did not fear being seen, she was still the strongest one here, not to mention with all her battle scars it was more punishment seeing than a pleasure. Instead the huntress let the warmth of her bed cloth eat her alive. The black beast of night could have her. The worries of her mind, the pains of her body, and madness of the day drift away in the only part of her life that she felt comfort from. Sleep.

The morning was just as wet as the rain with everything coated in a thick, almost slimy dew. The moistness of Autumn air was all over Azura, her hair frilled in a mess, ears perking at the sounds of horns. She had awoken to a sullen affair. No one knew what Charles had decided, but he came riding on one of the few horses the revolution had. No joy crossed that face, though Azura could find no fear either. The boy had found his spine it seemed.

"Azura with me, take the horse. We might need it." Charles announced pulling along another simple mare for her. The young leader was dressed ready for a fight, fitted in leather and knives, bow strapped to him and a rifle on his saddle. Perhaps just a bluff to make the enemy think them ready to sack the Castle, or Charles really was ready to turn them down and make a bloody morning. Azura didn't care which. She had deferred to his judgment and as always, the wolf would ride with him no matter.

Others came as well to the sound of horns. Leo warriors all in bronze with blue paint, claymores in hand to see this negotiation end. Simians came as well, the Chief's son who fought under the Leo. Murray himself ran to Charles' side. Smile on his face brighter than the morning sun. He would get his way or get his fight, no losing for the idiot.

'The Taurus' and her Taurus came as well dressed in black on horseback, some wearing added armor of wood and steel, all masked in grimm bone carved with the face of a demon. Azura was no chief, but her people considered Hunters and Huntresses perfect representation, as such her Canis blood sisters and brothers accepted her leadership. All totaled this was scattered Faunus of the forest. In truth an unimpressive lot. Hopefully the humans didn't notice.

Horns flared and with the gates of Fort Castle were open for the first time in weeks. Beyond it eyes of hungry men women and children peered out at every angle to see the now famed Charles the Black Cat of Fort Castle. Azura wondered if they were joyous or disappointed by what they saw of a young Faunus man sitting on a horse neither beastly nor gallant by human standards.

"Look lively gents, it's them." Out of the gates rode knights dressed in the castle's yellow standard and fine plate. They stood out in the forests green, the yellow unnatural and showy. Foolish. Azura's familiar armor was colored darkly as best not to be seen. Choosing the color outside of nature was idiotic. Most flamboyant of theses knights of Fort Castle road in center on a white steed, armor laced in gold, one hand on the reins and the other on a banner. It was a woman, clear from her armor shaped for a smaller frame and extended chest, though no part of her was not covered in steel. Dust rifles made such exuberance a death knell, but old traditions die hard.

"General Charles is it? I assume these are your other commanders." The leading knight spoke removing her helmet to speak more plainly to the rest. She was pretty, but not unusually so. Blonde hair cut short, practical for a knight, eyes brown as bark and smile dim. The leader rode with certain grace though sitting up rigid and straight. Someone who clearly enjoyed her rank. Another one Azura would hate.

"A collection of Chiefs, huntresses and bandits my lady. Nothing more." Charles started giving a fairly humble nod to the woman. Why he insisted on calling himself a bandit was always an oddity to Azura. He was a boy, meek, maybe even a coward, but not a bandit.

"At least you know what you are." 'Ahh, she is a joker' Azura noted wondering if she would be shaking her hand later or putting her pretty head on a spike.

"Are you the Lady of Fort Castle? Where is the older commander?" Charles asked getting focused on the point. One thing to be said for the boy, flattery and insults never fazed him. Instead his stance and attitude remained unchanged.

"My lady is ill, I am Lady Amarilla Cid knight of Fort Castle." Cid was the noble house of Fort Castle. They be the ones who conquered the old Faunus lands more years ago than any could remember. Amarilla however was a southern name, likely her birthplace. A distant cousin perhaps. "The old man?" The knight Cid asked seemingly confused.

"Irritable bald gent, gaunt and quite giddy about this deal?" The old Fort Castle commander. They had run through quite a many lately. An ambush by Charles' brother claimed one, starvation another finally a loose fire dust coated arrow killed the last. Azura found the knights she remembered from her childhood had all found themselves buried by her. These were the forgotten lot, old or very young.

"Oh him." Amarilla said derisively, nearly spitting at the mention. "Executed for treason. I will be listening to your answer." To her party's credit, everyone kept a straight face, though this was an interesting suggestion. The infighting meant that opposition parties to the merger would find themselves in a jail cell before the transition, or that loyalty of the knights was already in question. Either way Azura wanted to laugh. Another commander down.

"Think carefully Charles." Azura barely heard the whisper as Akagura spoke it to Charles, the white bone mask looking deeply at the young Faunus. Charles did not turn, or even recognize her as she spoke, but Azura could see him hear it, see his cat ears twitch and his jaw clench.

"I was born of the lowest class. I don't even have a family name." Charles laughed, breaking seriousness leading some watching to laugh as well, but Azura saw more frustration and pain in his laughter then humor. A bit of anger maybe. Mitigated, made small for so long. "How am I supposed to trust this offer? A title and a name from the same people who trampled on me for so long?" A more sullen attitude prevailed as people began to turn towards one another. Knights whispered among themselves and the whole of the world seemed to grimace at what Charles said. All, Azura bet, except for the Taurus.

"Truth is, you have us by the noose. We have no other option. We might not like it, or you, but Fort Castle keeps its word." Amarilla replied to her credit without a hint of insincerity or lies. Azura could nearly smell how she detested it, but a knight this proud and haughty about her status clearly cared about their perceived human honor enough to be frank.

"I can understand that. You have no other option…I had no other option, but to fight your kind if I wanted to live." Charles didn't sound pleased with that. He didn't have the fighter's spirit like Murray, but there was a balance to humors in him during these moments where Azura could almost understand why people followed him. Didn't change the fact that he was going to get them all killed one day, but she could see the leader in him. "This is my first real choice." Charles added with a laugh. 'You chose to live boy, it's always a choice.' Azura reprimanded in her own head. "I accept. Fort Castle is now the capital of Faunus Vale."

******** Hey everyone. Just an update on my life went on vacation followed up with a break-up of sorts and followed that with a lot of getting sick, but hopefully I'm getting better. I'm glad to get more female characters, too many male characters in this 'cus I wanted to kind of gender swap everyone's (Exception being Pyrrha and Jaune) spiritual counterpart. Problem is nearly everyone in RWBY is a girl D: More balanced gender distribution is important.**

**I feel this one needed some reworking, but I was limited due to being so late. Got to jump into MV tomorrow! Sorry for being so late and I hope you all had a good spring break, and new MV should be out this weekend! So sorry.**

**Credit for the wonderful edits go to TCR of course. **


	6. Ch 6 Live in the Shadow of a Snowflake

**Chapter 6: To Live in the Shadow of a Snowflake**

**Qrow the Hunter**

"Ouch!" Qrow yelped, the sting of way too much healing dust being applied to his cuts firing up his arm. It, along with a million other bruises and lacerations cross his body and face, ached, burned, whined and shuttered in distress at pain and sensational soreness. Two nevermores was perhaps a bad idea. "Please be careful!" He finished unable to contain himself.

"Sorry…" Summer mumbled meekly recoiling from the shout. This sort of thing happened a lot. After a big hunt Qrow would come back a little battered to the client and Summer would do the best to patch him up, though to the Schnees' credit he had never bled all over a fancier bathroom. Marble tub and flooring, fine wood finish on the chairs with emblazoned snowflakes. It was a massive room, the bathtub designed for three made to lock in steam, two hot showers and a whole sitting area. All for a single family member.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, it just stings like a…" Well Qrow didn't need to finish that, Summer would get the idea. She had gotten good at this despite her tiny hands, or maybe due to them. Sitting there the two of them, Qrow immobile and naked besides a single towel for decency, Summer applied ointments of dust to his wounds and bruises and bandages soaked in herbs to the more brutal ones. Any that might require suturing Qrow had burned shut with fire dust. He did not want his sister to treat anything that bled that much, she was too young for it. All in all through Qrow's wounds were many, but not particularly bad. With the copious amounts of healing and fire dust just around the Schnee home there was little worry of permanent scarring from any of it. Not to mention the hard work of a little red and black haired sweetheart.

"A bitch?" Summer finished for him with surprising boldness as she applied a dust and alcohol soaked bandage across Qrow's right arm.

"Summer!" Qrow replied in a surprised with wide eyed stare and tempered shout. "Where did you hear that?" Living on the road meant a certain level displeasurable language and culture, something that Qrow tried to hide Summer from, but of course it came through like everything else. How could they hold up the respectable name of the Rose family when surrounded by such barbarisms?

"You've said it before!" Summer shouted turning her head away with a pout as well as crossing her arms in indignation of Qrow. Perhaps there were times when Qrow forgot he was watching over an eight year old. He supposed everyone deserves some freedom to express frustration in perhaps somewhat vulgar ways, though the older brother was absolutely sure Summer was just misremembering.

"Don't listen to me; your brother is an idiot." Qrow started eliciting a giggle from his little sister. She was always the smart one after all. That girl was destined for greatness, Qrow was sure of it as he watched her bandage him up. How quickly she learned everything, how she had impressed the Schnees. She was gifted. "So you seem to have become friends with the Schnees while I was gone." Qrow asked interested. When he had first arrived, Friedrich and Summer had seemed to grow inseparable in just a day, Wilhelm and the inventor both seemed impressed by her and daunt on the little girl. Summer didn't seem to notice, or perhaps just didn't seem to care. As soon as Summer decided Friedrich and Wilhelm where going to be her new best friends, they were. No resisting her, sweet little thing.

"Mhm! Wilhelm is teaching me a card trick, he is sneaky though and keeps messing with me. Friedrich says he'll play piano for me when we get back, I'm so excited! I've never seen a piano before!" Summer blurted out all in one big mess seeming to bounce as she said it, excited at the very thought. She seemed even to forget what she was doing here in the bathroom with Qrow, which was fine. He could handle this. "Uncle Wernher is going to help me build an airship when I get back too, he promised; he promised!"

"Uncle?" Qrow asked with a raised brow, but gentle smile, reaching over to muss up the little ones hair. Patting Summer on the head she shook her head back and forth, tossing the short cut mop of crimson and black hair into a frenzy.

"Everyone calls him that." Summer mumbled a little self-conscious of how quickly she had grown attached to them. Little rosy color to her cheeks, as if she was about to get in trouble over something so silly as getting close to someone.

"That's not how that works Summer. He's their uncle, not ours." Truth is something was more bothersome to Qrow about her getting close to the old inventor. Shortly after returning home, battered beaten, but with his grimm face bones, the famed Wernher took him inside and offered an incredible if disconcerting offer. To make Summer his apprentice in his engineering work. Said that she was brilliant, but lacked proper training and education. Offered to do it all, if he would let her stay with the Schnees. The most masterful engineer in the world wanted to train his little sister. Problem was this old man had that name. Schnee.

"Doesn't matter, the other Faunus kids call him Uncle." Summer protested and not without some merit. The old man seemed to discourage such formalities and was well loved by the local Faunus families here. The other Schnee might be met with some suspicion and were often vilified, but everyone seemed to love the strange old man. Still trusting anything to nobility was something Qrow was not comfortable with, even if the nobility was not the worst. Not even to mention Castle White lands were on the border with the contested Fort Castle.

"Just don't get too comfortable, we have to leave for Vale soon." Beyond that was giving up Summer. He had no work on a warzone. The Lord of Castle White made that clear. To trust his little sister to them while he worked in the capitol. No he had to be there, had to watch her.

"We should stay! Why can't we stay!?" Summer asked angry, stomping her feet on the fine flooring of the bathroom with a force that seemed almost strong enough to crack the thin marble facade above the wooden foundation. Truly unlocking her aura this young was perhaps not one of Qrow's smartest ideas.

"We have a lot more adventures ahead. Big adventures you will just love." Qrow started after giving a small sigh. If there was one thing Qrow could count on, it was Summer's desire to be a story book adventurer. "You can see them again when we come back alright?" Thing was they were never coming back. Soon as they hit Vale, Qrow was going to put Summer in school somehow and if he was lucky get himself in one of the famed Hunters academies.

"Okay." Summer had little to say back. Instead she frowned looking down defeated, but unwilling to give up promise of adventures. Qrow almost got up to stand, but behind the fine carved wooden door of the Schnee's bathroom came a mild mannered knock.

"I'm coming in Master Rose." Called out the sweet voice of Nimh, the sweet Fox-Faunus whom seemed a servant of the family. It was originally she who offered to patch Qrow up, but Summer insisted it be her instead, protective as she got. Qrow didn't mind, he much preferred being so unsightly in front of his sister who could not care less than a woman only five or so years older than him. It was on this note Qrow turned a little red, looking around for loose towels, anything to cover him more than the small bit of white cloth he laid on his lap already.

"One minute." He called out trying to buy some time, but it didn't matter much to the young woman apparently. Uncaringly she barged in not even taking note of Qrow's nudity or embarrassment. Instead she simply carried in an extra towel and all of the young hunter's now patched up clothes. Red touched on Qrow's cheeks, and seeing that embarrassment Nimh laughed.

"Oh sorry Master Rose, do not mind me. My mother helped raise Wilhelm, and I did the same for the littlest one." She kept that laughing attitude, putting down the assorted goods, sauntering back the fluff of her tail swinging back and forth like a metronome. She paused at the door, looking back for a moment with a light smile. "I am not interested or bothered by the sight of young boys just so you know. I just wanted to bring you your things. The escort will be leaving shortly." With that she walked out shutting the door behind her. Qrow breathed easy now, not exactly looking forward to the long drive on a beaten body.

"Time to go Summer." Qrow mumbled standing up on his own two feet for the first time in a few hours. The mix of alcohol soaked bandages and the burn of healing dust made his limbs wobble as he stood, the burning sensation unfathomable yet somewhat refreshing over the dull ache of everything else. Slowly he put on his leather armor pieces and red fabrics embroidered with the symbol of a rose, a gift from mother. It was tough and old, but Nimh had fixed it up it seemed, the finish on the hard layered leather a finer black and the red made brighter somehow, a richer shade. "Get your things Summer, it's time to go."

The whole of the mansion seemed even messier, the crowed machines and devices that littered the summer home were packed up in boxes too small, people coming and going to pack away the fortune of valuables within this place. Summer ran off then, seeing Friedrich messing with a little container of dust. The idea of small children playing with the stuff unnerved Qrow despite their experience with it, but before he could stop them Wilhelm appeared on the scene, kneeling down to join them. The older boy humoring them, but watching them all the same. It was enough to ease Qrow's mind. That ease caused him to drop his guard, lose his heightened senses. In that opening an old man took the moment to sneak up on him.

"So Mr. Rose, have you thought on my inquiry? I don't want to ask her without your leave to do so. An apprenticeship should be blessed by everyone." Qrow didn't need to turn to see that old man to know exactly what he was doing, standing there running his fingers through his beard and his other hand in his pocket.

"I have to think on it. I have no future here." Qrow offered up honest, though turning to give a soft thankful smile. The offer was something to be thankful for, a boon in any other case. He would be remiss not to appreciate it, but cruel to accept it. Summer would need family after all that happened.

"I think we can find you some work, though not in my shop, brutes like yourself and my brother have no business fiddling with machines. Takes a certain aura." The old engineer said back with a nod, lips impossible to read under the thick silver beard he so comfortably wore, but he gave an affable impression with an understanding nod.

"One I don't have?" Qrow asked, not really needing an answer. He wasn't opposed to learning about the tools of his trade, but where Summer had a mind for the object, his was for the technique, the skill. He needed a scythe, but really any scythe could be used to great effect. He could trust Summer to deal with the actual mechanics of making the tools.

"The little one made your scythe correct? That's some good metal work. Boy if you can make that I'll take you under my wing." The older Schnee offered with a laugh making a bit of a joke out of Qrow's own ineptitude. It really didn't bother him however; in fact it was a little pleasant to speak more casually to one of the Schnees. "If not, talk to my trickster of a nephew. He always needs more pawns in his child's games, just like his father that one." Of all the Schnees to be difficult it was Wilhelm wasn't it. He was as mild-mannered as one could ask, but there was simply something unnerving about someone too pleasant to be around that oddly made him anything but pleasant to Qrow. Perhaps paranoia.

"I don't like the idea of being a pawn." Qrow muttered comfortable enough with Wernher to speak openly. Chess was a nobleman's game with the players and pieces strung about the world for them to gobble up. He simply had no business with it

"So long as we need food in our bellies, everyone is a pawn to something. In a way I'm my brother's pawn, but I do good work and am happier for it." Servitude was easy to grow accustomed to, apparently. Though it did little to comfort Qrow to hear how little Wernher valued his autonomy. "Just think on it son." He whispered as the children left Wilhelm, Friedrich leading the charge for once. Perhaps the little Summer was starting to affect him.

"Uncle, can you show us how to build a robot when we go home?" Friedrich pleaded as he came to his uncle's feet. The younger boy seeming taller when he spoke with a more demanding voice. Something told Qrow he was going to grow up to be a very intimidating man if he kept coming out of his withdrawn shell.

"I'll build it if you show me!" Summer offered tackling her little Schnee friend onto the floor. Friedrich shoved her off, trying to save face. Summer giggled at this pushing Friedrich back and sticking out her tongue a little, the child she was. Friedrich went red with anger, but did nothing as Wernher started laughing at the whole scene.

"Leave him be you two." Wilhelm asked coming from behind to scoop them both up. He was surprisingly strong, Qrow noticed, to lift both of the children up like they were still four or five. Perhaps not the frail politician the older brother thought he was. Friedrich struggled, but Summer seemed to enjoy it, giggling as she was lifted up by the ever tall Wilhelm. "Uncle you are not packed? I hate to sound alarmist, but if we want to beat sundown than we've ran out of time to enjoy ourselves." Wilhelm asked looking perturbed at the state of almost finished everything was yet nothing was ready to go. "Oh and good to see you up and well Mr. Rose." The young businessman finished turning to Qrow with a proper nod, the weight of two rather large children in his arms starting to show as his arms began to droop with his shoulders.

"Oh I won't be going just yet. That new design idea Summer came up with, the automatic pin. It's a good idea, but needs more tinkering. I will head for Castle White as soon as I can keep our newest weapon from exploding every third time we fire it." The old inventor replied without a hint of reservation. Though it did illicit a sort of groan from Wilhelm, whom seem to have predicted this sort of stunt.

"And you need to be here to do that? Uncle you never finish anything." The older Schnee brother voiced, letting out some of the perhaps false manners he normally spoke with so constantly. Letting both of the children down Wilhelm adjusted himself fixing his white coat and stepping forward toward the old man.

"If I didn't finish anything you would freeze in that Castle every winter boy." Wernher laughed not taking the boy seriously. Qrow felt a tinge of remorse for Wilhelm; it was hard to ever exert authority on people who changed you as a baby. Never quite take you seriously. "Let an old man tinker, my brother will understand." Wernher finished, sitting himself down before the same wooden desk as before, this time his tools and work in half-finished parts tossed everywhere around him. It seemed his natural place, hunched over some contraption. There was a special look to people doing what they were meant to. Qrow would never call it joy. It was a look of true focus, as if the entirety of the world lies in what was right in front of you. Most people never find a moment of that, Qrow was lucky to feel it in the grimm hunt at such a young age.

"It's not safe. Rumor has it Fort Castle is about to fall." Wilhelm announced as if to nothing, taking a deep breath of icy air as he stepped outside to the trucks on the road all packed with the most recent inventions from the good inventor. Friedrich bowed to his Uncle in proper respect and followed the older brother out into the mountain snow, always a pair it seemed those two.

"Faunus here won't hurt me. Don't worry about me." Their Uncle called out to a nearly empty room, save for the two Rose's. He seemed almost completely unaware of that fact, focused so completely on the work ahead of him, his big bald head pointed towards Qrow, the young hunter couldn't help, but feel awkward in the moment.

"But what if we leave before you get back?" Summer asked, the little thing looking all around as she nervously approached the inventor, a behemoth from her perspective.

"I'll just have to teach you everything when I see you next. I don't think you'll be leaving as soon as your brother thinks." Wernher replied without turning away from his work, irritating Qrow further. He didn't appreciate people predicting what he would and wouldn't do like he had no part in the decision to begin with. It was arrogant.

"Bye bye…uncle." Summer said sadly grasping at the big man's shirt, tugging at the white fabric. It was enough to stir the big bald busy Schnee, his workmen's hands turning around to pat Summer's head, ruffling the crimson and black mix of her short hair. This made Summer smile, though she pretended to hate it, trying her best to make a pout.

"Get on out, and I'll see you after I do my work. Oh and tell my brother I've had it with all the marriage proposals. He can go f…" Wernher cut himself off looking back at the rest of them, remembering the present child. "do something obscene to himself before I ever marry some old spinster." He finished more for Qrow than anyone else. Though the older Rose doubted he would have much to say to Lord Schnee that had anything to do with the obscene.

"Come on Summer it's time" Qrow whispered not wanting to watch this much longer. Summer had this problem, getting attached to people too quickly. Looking for new surrogates for mother and father. He couldn't blame her. Everyone wanted parents. That in mind Qrow walked out, back into the sunlight, the cold air was unpleasant after the previous mountain expedition and the sun far too harsh after sleeping for near a day. Out here, the villagers look on as the trucks were loaded, the largest of them was the same illustrious carriage with no horse that they had ridden in on.

Qrow could make out Summer saying goodbye. Swiftly the little girl ran up to Qrow, sullen and reserved she slipped her tiny hand into Qrow's. He wanted to tell her sorry, sorry to take away her new teacher, but he couldn't. He wasn't really sorry.

Instead they stepped into the carriage, the familiar wooden prison that brought them here. Well enough he suppose, much more pleasant than walking. He picked Summer up first, letting her get into the seat near Friedrich just like before. Kicking his snow stained boots, Qrow climbed in across from Wilhelm. Perhaps he tried to speak to Qrow, perhaps he even got a response, but either way it was like nothing mattered. Injuries aching and exhaustion filling him. Qrow felt Summer's hand in his and drifted into sleep at the start of the engine.

* * *

><p>"Qrow! Qrow, get up brother!" A small voice rippled through the darkness of Qrow's sleep sending him closer and closer to the realm of the living. He fought desperately against it, but as that voice called and small hands rocked him the fighting grew harder. Soon enough it was too late and the aching body began to feel again. That is what truly woke him up.<p>

"Summer, I'm awake!" Qrow shouted back, waving his arms against the light. He only opened his eyes once summer let him be and waking was inevitable. It wasn't as bright as he feared, the sun had drooped down, dusk overtaking the forecast. The hunter couldn't make out much to start with. The whole of the world seemed a blur as Qrow's eyes desperately tried to refocus on anything. When it did it was on the smiling face of Wilhelm staring right at him.

"Welcome to the world of the living Mr. Rose." He spoke with his usual sweetness, opening the carriage door to the open air outside of Castle White. The Schnee's leaped down to the earth below and Qrow knew he would have to follow.

Outside the look of Castle White at dusk was incredible. The mixing of red along the sky changed the moonstone somehow, the glow was faint, but consistent, a weak, but glowing beacon at the hilltop now with red light peering over the walls, just a little treat to the eyes. Something was beautiful, almost enough for Qrow to forget about all the aching and just be lost in the seemingly endless buttresses of moonstone and towers of marble. Almost.

What met them at the foyer was however less than pleasant, the large hall was not as packed as before, but waiting like beggars where the many merchants and businessmen and women that crowed Wilhelm during court. The blue faction, the money lenders and noble thieves. Wilhelm's faction.

"Sir Wilhelm, you must stop your sister! Fort Castle trade has reopened and she sends troops to harass the border. She is a war monger!" The loudest of the mess shouted, some woman dressed in overly fine furs and dress. Qrow stood back behind Wilhelm, blocking the children from being trampled by this mess of hungry wolves.

"Hold on, Fort Castle is reopened? Any word on my fiancée? Has the Black Cat been hung?" Wilhelm asked, of whom and what Qrow did not fully understand, though the Black Cat, well that was a name he knew. A Faunus rebel said to turn into a Cat and sneak into the homes of the rich, slit their necks and steal their dust. Fairy tales.

"No Sir. We do not know why or how the tradesmen are coming back; they purchase dust and supplies in high volume and at great price however. Your sister sees your future wife's merchants sent away coldly." Wilhelm did not interrupt, instead just nodded steadily at this, thinking for a moment on it, but always steady with a small frown of shared discontent with the rest.

"Yes we have no idea, and I have sent our forces to insure none of that dust ends up flying back at us. We have heard nothing from your lady, so I thought you might be more concerned about her than a quick lien, little brother." A voice as solid as a roar came from the back of the wall of panicking merchants. It was a familiar voice, one that seemed to always frighten Wilhelm's faction at court. To be fair she was enough to frighten Qrow himself. The silver haired knight born with what Qrow thought was the bluest eyes and the fairest skin aside from a scar along her cheek he had ever seen.

"Weiss!" Friedrich shouted, the youngest Schnee more excited than Qrow had ever seen him. He even seemed to smile. Well for a moment at least until the silver knight crushed it, her glare sharp at her brother, enough to freeze him there in place and remind him of the sullen person he had to be.

"Speak of the devil and she will come to meet you." Wilhelm began walking up to Weiss, almost matching her in height, yet still the little brother came up short. Even so he did so with certain finesse seeming to give his own air of authority. Qrow realized this was the core of the rivalry. Older sister head of the army and younger brother leader of the company. Each fighting for true authority. "All of you leave us, I will handle her."

"Run away rats! Find some other corpse to eat." Weiss shouted back at the mob as they all departed mumbling curses and finding new reason to vilify their enemy. There was something to be said for how quickly they scattered, perhaps rats was not, while sure cruel, unapt a description.

"Weiss." Wilhelm started.

"Wilhelm." Weiss continued.

"What of these two?" Weiss asked looking sharply with raised eye at Qrow, making full note of the Roses presence here as soon as the rest of the company went out of earshot. The great moonstone hall was left completely empty aside from this little group of five, though Qrow couldn't help but wonder if he should make a timely depart as well.

"Mr. Rose can be trusted." Well Qrow supposed that should be taken as a compliment.

"Well then…." Weiss started, taking a deep breath and composing herself, the red of dusk coming in from the open ceiling, her expression finally turning soft. "Friedrich come here sweetheart." She said softly, making Friedrich feel a resurgence in confidence, this time walking up to Weiss and giving her a gentle hug. An odd sight for sure. Weiss was beautiful, but Qrow doubted anyone would ever dare hug her. "I've missed you. Sorry for shouting." She whispered to him reaching down and returning the favor.

"Don't you two hate each other." Qrow asked admitting to his own ignorance. This family seemed to operate with some strange dynamics, here the brothers and sisters meant to kill each other for power seemed to get along rather well.

"All an act. The pawns need someone to blame, so why not each other. Little do they know both are being used by their enemies." Weiss answered with a smile, standing herself up straight and padding out the long leggings of her white and red uniform, removing from them every scattered wrinkle.

"Why trust me with this?" Qrow shouldn't have said it, but he did not thinking of his own neck for a moment.

"You're not important enough to be believed." Wilhelm announced with a mixture of an awkward shrug and a comical laugh. "Sorry." He added once it was clear Qrow didn't find it particularly funny. It wasn't worth the fight, so Qrow just shook his head and sighed. 'Let him have it.'

"What really is going on?" Wilhelm asked as well, this time changing the subject to the core of the issue, or at least the one the Schnee merchants seemed so inclined to push on. Weiss sighed again, this time collecting herself into the persona she normally was. Standing straight eyes locked and expression tight.

"New merchants are showing up all along the border buying dust and food in bulk then without a moment's notice going back again. Nothing to sell besides Fort Castle gold and useless goods. I sent a detachment of my personal knights to find out why and to hold the merchants at the border." She gave her report with steady voice, like a good soldier would. Qrow wondered if she had fought many wars, maybe knew mother.

"And?" Wilhelm asked softly. Voice firm, but inoffensive.

"Nothing yet. I don't like this brother." Weiss replied with a sense of authority, almost a warning. She was still the oldest sibling and next in line.

"I'll send my agents to find out what no one dare say to a woman in uniform tomorrow. For now let us rest. Qrow could you follow me for a moment?" Wilhelm had enough of it, politely as he could wave off her concerns and pulling the elder Rose over to an off hall.

"Alright little brother. Good day Mr. Rose." Qrow tried to say goodbye back, but behind him was only dim light, he could still hear them from the main hall. Weiss was speaking kindly with actual affection, Qrow had noticed she seemed gentle with children, at least Summer was safe with her. "Friedrich, who is your new friend?"

"I'm Summer….Hi." The sounds drifted from there and along the halls of moonstone Wilhelm brought them to a large office, likely the accounting room. It was lined with all sorts of accounts, each set looking older and more decrepit. The records seemed to never end, the endless life of a moonstone fortress. There was no gold or wealth to be seen, outside of a small vault, clearly not meant to hold all the wealth of Fort Castle. In front of it along the desk was a massive book labeled for this year. The current record.

"She isn't as terrifying as I remember." Qrow started looking around, his hand reaching out to the stone finery. Moonstone was cold to the touch, though perhaps it was the night air that was truly cold.

"She is exactly as terrifying as you remember, she just likes us." Wilhelm joked with a smile, sitting down to the records and placing the hunters own name forever in the annals. Qrow's work and his pay, not so meager for two kills. "Have you given any more thought to our offer." The Schnee asked another in favor of him staying.

"No, thank you and your family for the offer, but I must find work in Vale, there is none here in the north. Summer needs her brother" That was fact, there was no work here. No honest humble work. He wanted never to be responsible for more death in this world of beings with a soul. He was already too involved.

"I have plenty of work for you." As Wilhelm enunciated the words anger began to build in Qrow. The thing he wanted to avoid so desperately from saying was coming soon.

"There is no work here outside the war." Qrow grit his teeth as he spoke, Wilhelm thought him a bigger fool than he was, and perhaps Qrow was a fool to ever think this might be innocent at any level.

"There is plenty I can find for you Mr. Rose. You are sharp, not learned perhaps, but sharp. A quality hunter as well. Plenty of work unrelated to the war." Wilhelm lied, and Qrow knew it. The last kill was about the war too. It all was.

"Like the last job? Those nevermore's have been there for near thirty years and now you pay me to deal with it after so long? The villagers told me plenty, but the fight told me all I needed to know. Those birds were missing feathers...someone was gathering them for arrows. That's why you had me kill them!" Qrow lost it, but to his credit, Wilhelm didn't get angry or interrupt. Instead he let the hunter shout. This was all a game and Qrow couldn't stand it. He had, whether he had known it or not, robbed the Faunus a source of arrow heads, tipped an advantage to the nobles. Not to mention he was made to look like a bodyguard into the country and let his sister finish a war machine for them. Innocence was robbed of them.

"So you gathered? Yes the rebels have been irritating the nevermores and collecting the feathers for arrow tips." Wilhelm started, sitting up and stepping closer to Qrow, he seemed cheery as always, not at all fazed by the shouting. "But the job was only half the reason. I needed someone like you on official pay. So I killed three birds with one scythe." The young Schnee raised his hand in admission, willing to accept his guilt.

"And the other bird?" Qrow asked with raised brow, despite his best efforts, he was born a curious fool it seemed.

"There is something else going alongside all of this. A Faunus arrow missed my father only a month ago. Sure they are a people prone to such tactics, but why us? We are no worse than any other lord, in fact we are better. We are neutral. My uncle is beloved by the Faunus and all sorts of commoners." Wilhelm put his hand to his chin thinking, eyes focused on the low lighting of the room.

"And?" Qrow asked unsure of what any of this had to do with him.

"There is something more going on here. Someone wants just drag us into this. Someone is pushing us to put Schnee boots on the field. Quite a few have a reason to want that. I need to find out who would dare force it. For that I need someone common and clever." Common and clever. Qrow was common, clever maybe, but that was spies work. He was no spy, and spies work was war work. This was not his war.

"I want no part in this fight..."

"Understood, but what about stopping it?"

Breaking the intensity a letter came to the door. A guardsmen held it, looked like a ghost. The hand that held the letter shook violently and so Wilhelm took it sending the guardsmen away with a flick of the wrist. For the first time in Qrow's time her he had seen Wilhelm look shocked. There he turned into the color of the snowflake his family so revered. There he shivered holding the note like it would kill him. There he stood silent something finally rendering Wilhelm of all people speechless.

"What does it say?"

"It's a radio transcript from the villa." Wilhelm rocked as he spoke hand dropping to his desk as if the wood was needed to save him from the weight of letter was pressed against his back. "The old man was murdered."

****** So this chapter was weirdly really hard to write, not sure why. Been a crazy set of weeks since last, my sister came to town and Finals are coming up soon, oh goodie! :D I'm also thinking of starting another RWBY fic (non-Vale series) along these two to start this summer, but we will see. More on that later :O. Hope everyone is doing alright, and thanks to TCR for all the edits he will do and all the steady reviews. I might have a very small readership, but you all are the best! Night everyone! :D**


	7. Chapter 7: The Lady

Chapter 7: The Lady

Charles the Lord of Fort Castle

"Buy all of the dust we can; we will have no use for Lien. Soon no one will take it." Charles announced the first real issue of this meeting. Fort Castle had opened its gates; inside the place seemed not so unshakable as Charles had thought. The place was packed full of tired militia, fighters he intended to send home. Wealth somehow remained, same with some amount of food stores and dust, though not as much as anyone had hoped. Taking the keep for himself it now fell on the black cat to lead a castle. He had spent a year breaking Fort Castle, now he had to unbreak it. First time he ever lamented doing a good job.

"Then what will we pay the army with?" The yellow knight Armillia, ever the dutiful antagonist replied questioning Charles' edict. She was clearly loyal, had kept to her word on listening to Charles whenever possible, but never did so without the slightest bit of criticism. Charles preferred it however, sitting at this fine oak table in the high seat of honor, one he never earned, being stared at by a plethora of chiefs and commanders awaiting his orders. It was daunting and if Charles wasn't careful, somewhat intoxicating. Good to have someone question him.

"Human soldiers will not fight for us, save the few knights we have, and the Faunus will fight regardless of their pay 'cus facts are facts we have no other options. Send every one of them home, keep the guns though; we will be needing them for what comes next." Charles offered, something that even Armillia couldn't seem to exactly stand against. Truth was no one was going to argue against letting people return to their farms, hunting and crafts. The whole place was low in everything. At least that's what Charles garnered from the discussion at this very meeting table. Not like the records made any sense. "What language is this in?" Charles added flipping through the varied technical booklet of all the spending and earnings of the keep. A fountain of information, had it been in anything, but gibberish.

"Valen my lord…" Pan replied nervously. She had continued to act as Charles' assistant. Though her old living quarters had been restored to her she came up the next day to take care of anything Charles might have needed. Good kid, and now much sweeter smelling since that she was not a prisoner. At this table it was good to have her stand to his left a boon whenever he needed one.

"I can read Valen, this is not Valen." Charles replied as politely as he could, though the response seemed not nearly as positive as one could aspire to. Uncomfortable eyes stared at him from across the wooden table, Murray giving a shallow awkward smile, the Taurus silent in her seat. The Simian chief laughed, and the few remaining knights of Fort Castle shook their heads in disgust.

"Charles it's Valen, just cursive. Nobles love the stuff, makes them feel fancy I think." Azura spoke with a joke, an attempt at pity. The sweet wolf standing with shrugged shoulders to Charles' right. Now that he looked at it again, the squiggles looked somewhat like the numbers he had learned in his village school. Charles had been made to look a fool before, would be again, but this was a special kind of embarrassing, one that colored him a fine mild pink.

"My lord...can you not read cursive?" Pan asked, the young girl standing nervously by the high seat Charles so uncomfortably sat, the damn thing too large and obtrusive to even enjoy.

"Apparently not, Pan read the record for me." Charles replied with a bit of a sarcastic twinge, sliding the record book over to the young girl, the atmosphere feeling even more uncomfortable. The black cat had decided he didn't much like this place, a keep made of old iron and marble. To think how much time he spent trying to get it.

"Are you saying our bloody lord is illiterate? Public schooling has been around for near half a century and we have an illiterate giving the orders!" One of the younger knights, born with a constant gormless look on his face announced this with stunning subtly. Charles didn't much care for him, though the Faunus tried to blame it on boyish youth.

"Not for Faunus it isn't, but I can read fine when it's not whimsical scribbling. Pan if you could please." Charles did not allow himself to sound the fool, though he must look like one fumbling in his seat having a little girl read for him. This reminder of prejudice was enough to refocus the chiefs and hush the more polite humans.

"He's illiterate." The young boy pressed on, this time earning the look of ire from more than just Charles. Even Armillia glared at him to shut his mouth. This was kind of amusing, who would have believed the knights of fort Castle glaring at each other all over him. Well it was enough to make something pleasant out of a rather miserable event.

"Shut yer mouth boy, Charlie is plenty literate; I'll hear none of that damn complainin'." Murray the big Leo, ever the talker was the first to call out the boy. This was what Charles found incredibly endearing about Murray. The big Faunus was first through the gates when they opened, making demands of the guards turning everyone and everything firmly in Charles' hands. He and Azura quickly made work of distributing his orders and taking on the brunt of the actual work enforcing the transition. Not to mention Charles found him charming in a brutish sort of way.

"I'll listen to Charles, but if you think I will take insults from a fat red headed monster you don't-" The boy started, but never finished. A small knife flung into the wood of the table to shut them all up. It was better than shouting; Charles never liked being loud.

"You will listen, and if not we will strip you of all your possessions and send you on your merry way. I promise it is a very long, cold, and wet walk to Castle White from here. It can be a very beautiful walk in a miserable horrible sort of way." Charles kept his voice level, best to always speak calmly, no need to add rude along with stern. His warning was enough to silence the boy for a short bit. At least enough that after a moment the room was still soundless. "Don't be too surprised, everyone seems to forget I was bandit a week ago, now Pan sweetie please read the record. Also all future records will be typed, what use are typewriters if not for records" Charles said with smile hoping to lighten the mood and humble himself a little.

"We have, uhh five hundred thousand lien worth of debt it seems. Our income is taxes on hunting and dust mining, some farming, but the farms are mostly damaged and ahhh, we owe the farmers the insurance for damages...it's a lot." Pan spoke softly, with many pauses herself, not the most confident reader though with this much bad news, having it said slowly made it easier to stomach.

"To whom do we owe the debt?" Charles requested. He had found Fort Castle more impoverished than he had hoped. Though running a province without an economy for half a year surely would take the lien out of any pocket.

"Mostly to...uhh Schnee financing, the banking branch of Castle White. Some to our local bank, ummm the rest to the crown." Pan read off in order of importance, though none of them seem all that important. Charles found himself mostly just shrugging it. Owing money to your enemies was one of the most ironically simple matters.

"Doesn't matter, I don't respect tyrant Geordie and he doesn't like me much neither from what I hear. So we keep their money, same with the Schnee. Why write a check to a group of people that are more inclined to skin us than have a drink with us? As for our own bankers." Charles started scratching his own chin, fairly smoothed skinned despite getting older every day. "For our own bankers, let the Schnee merchants come in, thinking we're free of occupation and the Taurus I'm sure would be happy to lead raids as they come back. We can pay off the debt and only piss off people that already hate us." Charles stated as much as he asked, leaving this one slightly open to ridicule. The knights just sat there awkwardly, not used to the idea of this sort of work, too bad they had just joined the losing side.

"It will be easy; my people will have plenty of lien for your wedding gift." The Taurus replied hidden behind her bone white grimm mask. She was not something Charles enjoyed having on a leash; sometimes it was better to have the wild bull loose on the enemy than try to keep it home. Charles did not choose her for no reason that much was certain, likely to her as well.

"The merchants and businessmen and woman are not at war with us, attacking them is deplorable." Amarilla was the only one with the courage to mention it at all. To some credit she was right, innocent people would end up poorer along with the enemy, but that was how things were won. Charles gave a frown as a reply, not having much to say back, the order just stood daunting in front of them all.

"Deplorable, aye, so is forcing us from our hearth and home. Putting us to work in the mines. You whole lot are deplorable!" Chief Murray filled the void with his own anger, the booming boisterous man as he was left a heavy vocal impression. "Well now yer deplorable for the right sort of deplorable eh?" He ended with a laugh and a friendlier expression, the big white massive grin he always had. Charles wanted to thank him for at least trying to rectify his bouts of anger with something a little more...friendly.

"This is how we survive, how we win, how I beat you. Can't win clean, not against an enemy bigger than you." Charles added in a somber tone. He looked around his marble dome, the fine intersecting ribbed arches that held up their meeting room, the glass windows illuminating a dim light from outside, sun going down on a rainy day. Mostly he just didn't feel like looking people in the eye. When did thievery become so natural to him, such a quick solution? It was the right choice, gods it had to be the right choice, but it was not supposed to be easy.

"And like or not, my betrothed is right. Fort Castle stands alone with just a handful of Faunus and a lot of dirty tricks to save it." The voice that defended him was one that he knew, but always felt so foreign to him. Charles did not want to look at her, though he meant her no offense. She was something he was never comfortable with, had no gauge for what to do or say. It was the Lady of Fort Castle, Maledetta Cid, his future wife.

"Ahh, umm Good morning. Sit with us, we are discussing edicts." Charles pulled his courage and looked towards her. He was not repulsed by her appearance whatsoever; she was quite the beautiful young woman. Looking back on her now that was reinforced. She stood, guarded by one of her own knights and one of the Leo as was agreed on, the light of a colored glass pane dim on her. She seemed small, frail even, cursed from birth with chronic illness unlike her relative Armillia, though clever and more aware of the situation than anyone else seemed to be. She had pale skin, as was common of people from northern Vale; her hair was of loose threads, heavy and wavy. It split into small almost curls that looked like waves of ribbons, all black as a nevermore's feathers. Her bangs fell to her eyes, some even crossing that threshold. Her countenance was marred by something though, whether giving a light smile or heavy glare, she always looked sad. For some reason, that sad look made Charles feel guilty and hateful. He had no love for Fort Castle, and little love for the sad looking woman that ran it. "Taurus, you have your orders, good luck."

"Yes Lord Charles." The wild bull of a woman Charles had unleashed announced, taking herself and her guards out of the room. That damn mask made it impossible to tell if she had been offended or pleased by the assignment in truth. Reading expressions was so important to leadership Charles had found, despite his own lack of talent for it.

"Sounds awful,_ Lord Charles_, mustn't let yourself be called that. If you do everyone will think you're important or somethin' silly." Azura joked patting him on the shoulder. She, that hulking loveable wolf that she was, had the opposite effect on him than the lady of fort Castle. Where Maledetta made him feel alien and wrong, Azura reminded him of his home, made him remember where he came from. In many ways he regretted this decision, however necessary for closing the door on other fates. Either way he chose Maledetta, he chose this fate.

"We still have the matter of ending the separation laws. From here on out the division between Faunus and humans is made void here in Fort Castle. That includes the Fair-Wage edict and all other claims to our people." Charles had no desire to invite question into this. Serfdom had cost him a dear friend, along with whatever had existed of his meager dignity and much of his decency. For the first time in his life he wanted to do something meaningful in this world. Ending suffering for someone.

"Lord Charles, isn't the Fair-Wage edict supposed to be the end of Faunus slavery?" Armilia argued with blatant ignorance of their people and what actual counted for something along the line of Fair Wages. End Faunus slavery it did not. Pay a Faunus in chains and they are still in chains.

"The Fair wage edict as written says that all Faunus may be charged with labor so long as they are paid a human's wage. It's not lack of pay that makes a slave, but not being able to refuse. Things some of us were forced to do for 'fair wages' would disgust you Armillia, I assure you that." Charles had a steadiness to him in his words not previously seen by her. For how little assured he was of much, Lucia, what happened to her, watching the noose be her only way out for the dear woman, there was no doubt to him on this. A lot of people failed her that day and the months that followed, Charles included, but that law is what let people like the knight Guido turn from troubling to evil. "End of story. Fair-Wages, the Menagerie Exile, the Separation Order, all of it gone. From now till the end of time Fort Castle law has no special favors for anyone. Understood?"

"I think you've made your position clear, Charles." One of the older knights finished, standing to dismiss himself with a scowl and a bow. This was stepping on toes and as such Charles was again reassured that no one in Fort Castle's army was worth trusting. He had bought a Castle and a worthless army with this marriage, at least the Castle was nice.

"Everyone is dismissed." The Black Cat announced to save both the knight and him face. The moment meetings begin to have walk-outs is the moment it stops being worth it. At least some steps had been taken and things put in motion. More could be addressed tomorrow, for now he wanted to hide from his future wife like the child he seemed to still be.

Stepping away from them all, Charles stepped outside. The rain was pouring, as it always was, but this time he was safe and protected. Above the council dome balcony was a rain shield, now only thin stone felt wet and cold. The light that had come from today's sunset drifted off from the world, the autumn grey replacing it. It had been so long since Charles had a moment to actually enjoy rain, the smell and sound of it. None had followed him past the stained glass windows, but Azura of course who was now his official protector.

"Murray is asking for you. The man has a crush on you I swear, won't stop talking about old bonnie Lord Charlie as he likes to call you." Azura joked, the warrior gossiping to help Charles feel at home again. It wasn't home, but she was a start. "I have more unpleasant news." The great wolf continued when Charles said nothing.

"You can tell me." Charles had grown use to bad news, almost enjoyed them as surprises in store for them. Like boxes of fine chocolate he could look forward to it. At least that's what he told himself sarcastically to deny the anxiety he felt every day.

"Wernher Schnee, the old man is dead." Wernher, now he was a hero to anyone. His industrial technology helped build a bridge for anyone to cross into a new age. In a number of ways his technological advancements were why feudalism was a walking corpse. When no one feared starving or freezing to death people thought of new ideas, self-made people. He saved more lives with his affordable heaters, modern miners masks, and automated systems than anyone else Charles could think of. For all the evils of the Schnee family, for as cruel as Otto was known to be to his people, Wernher's death was dreadful news. "Bigger problem than an old man dead. He died of an arrow, Faunus arrow. That's what they say, and they predict when the Schnees hear of this they will name you as the one who ordered it."

"What? Why?" Charles stood in shock, he'd been used to being blamed for things, legends of his deeds he had never even dared to try came to him often. This was the first time he had ever been blamed for killing a personal hero. "Who told you this?"

"A Taurus spy." Charles didn't even know he had spies at his disposal, well he supposed they weren't his truly, but the Taurus woman's. She had decided to let this information only be slipped to him after he ordered her departure, a crafty bull, one he did not feel comfortable with.

"Send a letter of denial to Castle White, and of our best wishes, Wernher was a Faunus hero!" Charles began to feel the beginnings of fear in him. Castle White and the Schnees were no more good or just than any of the other provincial lords, but at least they had stayed out of the war. Sure there had been skirmishes on the border and they had always been a target for raids, but never in their own territory, nor anything against a Schnee specifically. Schnees

had the richest company, the most powerful army, and the most advanced city in the north. They were the most powerful family baring the royal family. Where the dying light of feudalism had turned lords in debt to rich folk, the Schnee's managed to make the rich folk in debt to them. Long story short, Schnee were foes Charles did not want to fight.

"Sending a letter apologizing before they even know he is dead, what's a better way to look guilty?" Azura argued, the growl that followed her words a grim reminder of how completely screwed this was. That is it then, stuck in the rain waiting for the king's army, hoping the most powerful person in Vale aside from that same king doesn't decide to take revenge for the murder of his brother. "Wait a week and hope they think you're innocent, it's our only choice."

"Call an investigation; have one of your kin look into it, someone loyal to us. Maybe if we can be the ones to catch the murderer, old Otto might think us a better friend for it. Plus it would be nice serving justice for once. Miss being the good guys Azura." Charles would have gone on, but sound behind him made his ear twitch. Stepping out into the balcony was his Lady of Fort Castle, killing his dream of being alone.

"Charles, may we speak for a moment." It was a pleasant sort of dream, but reality demands and so Charles turned to the Lady, the same sad smile on her lips as always there to greet him. At least she didn't wear an obnoxious amount of yellow like Armilla, instead she dressed in white, accented with black and purple wherever was fitting. Why this woman repelled him so much Charles could not answer, but Azura was kind enough to stand partially in her way, enough to give the boy some air to breath.

"Sure, milady uhh is here okay?" Charles replied, though she just chuckled at this sensing his discomfort. That only made the black cat more nervousness. This was a right awful start to what hopefully for his mortality's sake was going to be a rather long, if dreadful marriage.

"Don't you laugh too hard milady; you'll hurt his feelings if you keep it up." Azura joked, something unusual for her to do with a stranger. She always had a fondness for fragile things with inner strength. That was why she helped Charles and Lucia growing up. Azura had mentioned once, both fragile people with a different sort of strength. Maledetta Cid seemed certainly fragile for a person, though that inner strength Azura talked about was not there.

"Both of you are just charming, I do not mean to laugh." Maledetta spoke gently, reaching out to pat Azura on the shoulder, small touches being an easy way to soften a relationship, or maybe Charles was just paranoid.

"Nah, only me is charming, I'm the ugliest girl in the world and he couldn't charm me after ten years of trying." Charles would argue against that. Well he would have tried. Azura wasn't classically beautiful. She had a scarred face, but even before than she was bulky, stalky, had strange sharp teeth and fairly cruel eyes. Still it just didn't sit right with Charles to hear her say she wasn't beautiful. It was an age old fight they had stop having for years.

"Don't say that about yourself, you're a woman of qualities anyone would envy." To Maledetta's credit she was unafraid of Azura, spoke softly to her like Charles did. For that Charles found her sweet. The big wolf needed more friends after all. She was respected and feared by everyone, but even her Canis kin didn't seem to love her.

"Yes, but looks aren't one of them. Wear what you are and no one can hurt you with it, and I'm thinking Azura Thrym is the biggest wolf in a forest of sheep. Not so bad, eh?" That was beyond question. Azura deserved to be in a famous school like Beacon, she was a full huntress at the age of thirteen, when Charles was still learning how to fish and hunt deer, she was skinning Ursi for clients.

"The best huntress in the north too." Charles added, turning from the rain to his friend and betrothed. "You um, wanted to talk milady." He added, honestly wanting to get whatever matter this was about over with. His deep amber eyes for the first time actually locking with Maledetta's sad brown ones.

"Call me Mala Charles, after all we are going to be married, better start acting like it." She replied with a laugh, though contained and never really draining whatever melancholy curse clung to her. "Yes I wanted to say, be a bit more careful with the other knights. You've bested all of them, a lot of hurt pride is there. Make them feel bigger, not smaller, that's how you will earn their love."

"I won't ever get their love, figure it doesn't really matter how they feel so long as I don't let them undermine me." Charles had no softer way of saying it. The knights of Fort Castle could be trusted to protect the Castle, but that's it. Once they left the province they would be useless to him on the field, perhaps even a detriment. Or, just maybe, was that his own prejudice talking. The sword of hate cut both ways, which was something Charles always had to remember.

"People love winners, so far you've never lost. Keep winning and keep bringing them up and soon they will love you. Hatred for Faunus is just an excuse for slavery, it has no real basis, we all know it, we've always known it and so do you." Maledetta advocated with some fire, it was almost convincing. Maybe Charles would try it, or maybe he would talk some sense into himself and realize this was nothing, but a naive hopeful attitude. He would have to decide that later.

"Thank you, uhh Mala, I will think on that. Is there anything else?" Charles started, but Azura finished.

"Actually there is something I wanted to ask you Maledetta, if you don't mind me calling you that." There was a bit of emotion behind Azura as she spoke, Charles could hear it in the growl, something only he would sense from years of listening to her. Instantly he knew where this was going and it made him want to beg Azura to stop. "Did you order the Wages Edict?" There it was. Of course he had wanted to ask, but the truth was he didn't want to know. The Lady of Fort Castle seemed affable, even sweet despite Charles' misgivings, but the knights were oppressors. That oppression had a source. The source had only one logical beginning. He just didn't want to hear it. "A good friend of mine, sweet girl killed herself. I'm thinking it was that little piece of paper is what made that happen, so did you make it so?"

"I did." Maledetta did not argue against it. She admitted it, with no fear, but no pride. Those sad eyes were unchanged, as if this was expected even if unwanted.

"Why?" Azura growled, a deep hateful sort of growl, yet marked with a desperate confusion. Charles didn't know what to do, so he just watched the conversation unfold, more of the guilt beginning to fall on his shoulders for Lucia's death. He could feel the weight of it.

"One of the larger local companies vied for my favor wishing to open up the mines here before Schnee would, they just needed the labor. I needed the mine, so I provided the labor." She explained clearly, again with no change in emotion, stoic sincerity. Lien was the reason and it did not surprise Charles, though it was almost sad that the answer was so simple.

"For money?" Azura growled, while Charles stood in silence with only the rain to make a noise.

"Where did you learn honor Azura?" The lady asked sweetly, almost as if to ask a child where they had learned a bad word. A sort of sad question.

"Stories we Canis pass down every generation, I know my code." Azura's people were like that. Canis were born with code and laws everyone follows, a strict hierarchy of old traditions meant to strengthen community. All of these told in stories, ones she would tell Charles and Lucia when they were little, they were important to her.

"Ahh, unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." The worlds were cruel even if the voice seemed sad. "I was born sickly. My mother told me I was cursed, but I was her only child. Unlike her, my cousins or every generation of women in my family, I was not a warrior with masterful aura. I was born feeble, sickly and powerless. I have to scheme to survive. Without the mine the Cid Family would be a puppet of the Schnee. I did what I must, even if it is wrong. I swore an oath to our king, but I sided with Charles didn't I? I did it to survive. Being on the side of right is just a benefit, one I will enjoy, but I make no excuse. The world is cruel, and I am along with it as much as it will demand from me." She ended with a sigh, knowing her words were wind to Azura, though Charles thought maybe they were more meant for him. "Good day you two, sleep well and perhaps we can be friends again tomorrow." She announced taking her leave, stepping into the light of the dome again. It was now just Charles, Azura, and the rainy mess of autumn.

"Bitch." Azura said to no one, her own anger began to subside. She meant it to break the tension, but it didn't really help.

"Yeah." Charles could only mutter. It wasn't so much anger he felt toward Maledetta, just a heavy feeling of defeat. He wanted to be Lucia's avenger, her hero, but he was just going to fail her again, marry the one responsible to all the horrible things in their lives for a handful of conveniences.

"She had fire in her that one. I think she likes me Charles." Azura joked, her own expression a little sad behind the scarring and the long black hair. She was trying to cheer up Charles and he knew it. He tried his best to smile and play along. The black cat could feel guilty later.

"Do you like her? You can marry her for me." He replied with that same weak pretend smile.

"Charles?" Azura replied, elongating his name for emphasis. "The only person I ever liked was Lucia and look where that got me." That broke it, as morbid the joke was it cracked Charles and he laughed. Azura loved her dark humor and it never seemed to stop shocking Charles into laughter.

"What about me?" Charles replied preferring the comically selfish to the tragic humors.

"Ehh, I'd say I tolerate you." Azura replied with a smile. In the entire world, grey bleak horrible mess it seemed to be, there was no better friend to call his best, and to think she just 'tolerated' him. He almost considered letting his feelings be hurt. Instead Charles returned her smile, if only for a moment. He wished someone else was here too, though that person would have hated it. If only he could ask her.

"What would Lucia tell me to do you think?" Instead he asked the only other person that seemed to remember her.

"She would have you run someplace safe and keep your head in the dirt. She is dead, not a saint, she would know less than us what to do." Azura said cruel things from time to time, but no one loved Lucia more than she did. Killing Guido was supposed to make everything feel better, but it didn't. The guilt was still there, and the war was added to it. "But I think you do what you need to. I kill your enemies, you be the leader you're not, but need to be." That was simple terms, though not very optimistic. Azura was always a pessimist.

"So lead?"

"Be the Lord for your Lady, win the war, then we all get justice."

****Welp here is another release. The day before the last finals too. Crazy time for me, but thankfully summer starts and I'll only have one class :D But it's physics, so hard with lots of homework D:**

**'cus I forgot to do it last chapter, Wernher Schnee is a reference to Wernher von Braun, a German scientist who pioneered rocket technology. His work made space travel possible.**

**Hope everyone likes the chapter. Sorry if it's a bit heavy, with its vague references to two of the most haunting things I've had to deal with in my lifetime :/ In some ways I hope to do literary justice to both those things and in no way want to under play them.**

**I want to say again thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, this is a small story so that support is massive to me. It helps so much and without it this story could not keep being made. Also thank you again to TCR whom has been a wonderful help and wonderful friend.**


	8. Chapter 8: Crucible of War

**Chapter 8: Crucible of War**

**Friedrich the Youngest**

Much of the world's color was absent; at least it felt that way stepping outside into the grey snowfall. First major snows of autumn had hit the white river, inland enough that on a cold day like this with the heavy precipitation, the whole of the north vale would be covered in a blanket of frost. It was this snow, this floating ice, which Schnees took as their symbol. Represented them as this beautifully magnificent force of nature that was unstoppable. Rubbish, all snows melt, and all Schnees die. His uncle was the first for Friedrich to see, but not the first in time or the last. Everything melts, only the castle remains. Only legacy remains, and when his Uncle's name grows so old it loses all meaning from both mind and tongue, what he invented will remain. A little bit of solace Friedrich supposes in the chill of this news.

"Friedrich, are you okay?" Summer asked pulling Friedrich further into the snow of the city. Of course he wasn't okay. What sort of question was that? His Uncle was murdered and no one even knew why. How does one reconcile something that can't even understand the reason for? Adults said this sort of thing happened, but it shouldn't. It was allowed to happen, people did this. What about justice, what about right? No one even had a reason to kill him. They say the gods made it snow as tears in Wernher's memory. Liars, no one believed that. If Gods are real, and Friedrich was not convinced they were, why would they allow such cruelty and disorder if they cared so much? "Friedrich?"

"No Summer. Stop,." Friedrich mumbled a meek reply. He always had a hard time expressing himself, though he didn't know why. Everyone always said to just speak what he felt, but Friedrich was old enough to know everyone was lying already. His brother and sister lied about fighting, Qrow lied about not caring about the war, and anyone with eyes could see it. Father lied when he was nice and mother lied about father. No one seemed to say what they meant, for exactly what reason Friedrich still didn't understand.

"We can build a robot? We could make it out of the scrap; maybe use my pennies for its eyes and one of the mops for hair!" Summer seemed to though, speak sincerely that is. She had cried the first day the news came, but was sunshine the next. Said she didn't want to feel bad anymore, wanted to play. Qrow yelled at her for being selfish, but it seemed to make sense. Uncle Wernher would have preferred robots over tears anyway. Why would that change now that he's dead? "Friedrich…"

"That's stupid. How would it see with pennies? Wouldn't we need dust to make it work?" Friedrich replied, coarser than he intended. Summer seemed pleased though, stupid as it was that was the biggest reaction he had towards anything Summer had said to him all day. He had to admit, for a moment the idea of building a robot was an interesting enough one to be distracting. "My brother won't fund a silly thing with mop hair," he added trying to be a little more playful. Summer was a nice girl, nice to him at least, even if a little too fixed on him. Enough so that as Friedrich tried to take a stroll through the city she forced her way along. He didn't mind so much the company, though he rather not admit it.

"Do you have any better ideas for fun?" Summer asked kicking up some snow as she ran ahead. They were crossing over the Castle Bridge, into the city streets, the grey skies and sparse walkways. Some people would still be out, shops still open, but not much on a snowy day. Everything was too frosty to change much, even the river below seemed desolate, no supply ships coming or going, all waiting for the autumn snows to stop.

"What if I don't want to have fun?" Friedrich knew it was childish to act that way, but couldn't resist. He hated being, not quite outsmarted, but made the fool by people. The bridge ended and the markets started a few of the street shoveled to make a path and what poor few open air vendors that were open kept fires running for warmth. An illegal hazard, but no guards stopped them. A few faunus huddled by an open flame dressed in brown ruined cloaks, their feline ears making them as different from everyone else. They turned to look at Friedrich, look meekly, almost not at all, but they looked. Friedrich wasn't afraid, but even he had some sense and ran closer to Summer as quickly as he could without tripping on the soaked ends of his white cloak.

"Everyone wants to have fun…" Summer started staring into a candy shop for a moment loaded up with goods. She was a poor girl, something Friedrich really didn't understand. Staring into the store the candy inside was cheap-low quality goods, why bother pining over something so cheap? 'She can't buy even this?' Of course not. Looking deeply inside he almost considered buying her whatever she wanted. Something about Summer made him want to make all the silly little girl's dreams come true. "Hey Friedrich!" that same little girl shouted, shouted loud, but at a distance he didn't even notice she had gone. When he turned to look white struck him, white and cold and wet too. Snow.

"How dare you!?" Friedrich shouted whipping away the frost from his face, the fine white cloak and shirt he wore already turning wet from the melt on his skin. Summer just stuck out her tongue at him, pelting him with another snowball smacking him right in the chest.

"Catch me!" The game started and with a silver twinkle in her eye, the girl melted into white rose petals, popping back into existence in an explosion of petals just a few feet away, a glow of aura on her. The nerve of her, ambush him in a snow ball fight without even the decency of warning him and then to use aura to, to teleport! That was cheating. Impressive, but cheating.

Flush with anger Friedrich chased after her, kicking up snow as he went. Summer caught this and ran ahead, zigzagging between the piles of snow along the market square. She wanted to cheat using aura, fine and well, Schnee had mastered the use of aura in elements, something him and Wilhelm shared. Reaching into the boys pants pocket a small crystal, ice dust, shined with a deep blue glow. Deep enough to change Friedrich's eyes from an ice blue to a deep water azure. The snow piles that had impeded Summer burst apart as he approached catching a few feet on Summer, dull girl didn't realize she wasn't the only one with special tricks.

Seeing the gains, Summer turned back nervous, her own worn and torn red cloak flapping as she ran. She could tell Friedrich was catching, something that made the small boy smile just a little. There was an addicting quality to winning. Summer, shifted direction, bolting headlong toward a vender. Dolt had no idea; Friedrich could only guess she was too focused on what was behind her to see the mistake in front. At least that was what Friedrich thought.

A gleam of petals as white as the white roses of spring burst from the aether taking Summer to wherever they had come from. 'Of course idiot, she can teleport.' An unbelievable semblance and completely unfair he would most certainly add. Of course following her in a beeline put Friedrich in path of the vender. Stopping, but sliding on icy cobble stone, Friedrich slammed headlong into the vender. It knocked nothing over, and the vender stopped yelling as soon as the cloak brazened with the Snowflake became clear. Still it hurt, the crash dizzying for a moment. What hurt more was feeling like a fool. It was that feeling that pulled Friedrich onto his feet.

"Friedrich are you okay?" Summer called. He gave no answer, only an annoyed growl. He wanted to kill her, making him look like an idiot in front of everyone. Didn't Summer get it? He was Friedrich Schnee, third son of Otto Schnee Herzog of Castle White and the paramount noble of North Vale. He wasn't going to look like an idiot, not to a little girl two years younger than him. Blue eyes still colored by the azure crystal, Friedrich channeled the dust again the, this time calling the snow around Summer to his command small blue glyphs glowing only for a moment in the piles. Like a snake it swirled around her quickly grasping her legs in place. Sure she could teleport, but the surprise got to her and Summer didn't even try. This was his moment of victory, charging full in Friedrich tackled Summer into the pile.

"Stupid little girl I don't have time for your kid games!" Friedrich shouted as they collided. A puff of snow greeted them as they landed; covering them both. They wrestled each other down angrily. Friedrich was a bit older, able to hold her down, but Summer growled at this, the impudent girl biting down on his hand. Friedrich despite himself yelped and let go, letting Summer push him off. "That hurt!" Friedrich shouted, more surprised than actually in pain.

"Don't call me little! I'm more mature than you! You're the little kid!" Summer screamed back. She was red faced and cross, the color of her cheeks ironically matched her cloak so well. In their week together Friedrich had never seen Summer mad about anything, everything was a game to her, barring this apparently.

"I'm older than you!" Friedrich yelled back in complete awe of how mad she was. Friedrich wouldn't back down though, as meek as he was, Summer was still the younger one, still the little girl. He was the sophisticated noblemen by contrary, something she had to know meant a lot. "Exactly how are you more mature than me?!"

"You couldn't do this!" Friedrich was about to ask what before being interrupted in a way that would have never occurred to him. A first in his life, a girl, Summer Rose, reached out and kissed him. It was light awkward and shocking, but it managed to leave Friedrich confused and vexed. She parted, eyes still pale silver plates dyed with just a little red of anger and agitation. Friedrich could feel a slight and unsightly burn on his cheeks. He didn't know what to do, he was only just eleven after all. This was supposed to be moment in a far off time. "Told you!" Summer cemented her point with a pout stamping her foot in the snow. Friedrich had no response, he was still standing surprised in the middle of market square. The only thing that could wake him from his awkward panicked daze was more wet and frosty snow. Straight to the face, a delivery of ice.

`"I win! Don't let your guard down dummy!" More balls pelted him, the irritable little girl showing her true villainous colors. This was not Friedrich's first kiss from a lady, Summer was no lady, just a cheating fox in a little girl's body.

"You cheater!" He shouted picking up his own snow, the red anger in him pushing his desire for victory even more. He did not know how to from snowballs properly, but despite them falling apart in air, he never stop. Friedrich wanted to show her exactly what messing with a Schnee met. Unbroken and uncompromising. Roses would never beat snowflakes in the ice, not while he breathed.

"Summer Rose you will stop this instant!" Friedrich hadn't seen Qrow come up behind them, couldn't see the hunter from the red glaze of anger that colored Friedrich's vision. The hunter always scared him a little bit. He wasn't that much older than Summer, but much taller with thick messy black hair and a wickedly curved scythe. He had a touch of barbarism that put Friedrich on edge. Perhaps that was hunters, they need the baser instincts to hunt monsters. Summer did stop though she pouted in protest. Wilhelm was right behind Qrow. He dressed in his usual winter coat and false smile. There was a paleness to him, one Friedrich found synonymous with worry. He hid it well, but any of the siblings could spot it. Came with knowing Wilhelm near since birth. No one was born a liar after all.

"Hey you two." Wilhelm started; picking up Summer and lifting the eight year old up onto his shoulder, something that made her seem to giggle while Qrow grimaced. Another thing that made Friedrich distrusting of Qrow, he scorned them and Friedrich seemed the only one who could tell. "We need to be back at the Castle. Miss Nimh has arrived and we need to be there to greet her." Nimh, she was the fox faunus, the one that practically raised Friedrich. She always put him at odds and now Uncle died right under her nose. He didn't know how to feel about her.

"It's about Uncle isn't it?" Friedrich asked and Wilhelm answered.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>"And you are sure the bolt that struck him was tipped with a nevermore feather?" Herzog Otto Schnee spoke and the entire hall went silent, something that was always astonishing to Friedrich. His father had that kind of power, the power to speak and turn all around him into dazed mutes. Even Wilhelm struggled to deal with the harpies of the great hall in Castle White, Weiss silenced them for a time, but some would always mock her as an unproven tall-talker. Their endless chirping against the ancient stones here in his home was nauseating.<p>

"Yes Herzog. I pulled it out of his wounds myself. It was on the road here. I was struck as well, but only as an afterthought, they were not so careful with me." Nimh stood alone as the grey light poured in with the snow from the exposed ceiling. It gave her a desperate look, the fragile flakes of frost catching on her ears and the blood stained bandages around her shoulder. Everyone looked at her with pity, the poor woman frozen, ambushed and put on trial here in a court that seemed almost made of ice.

"Why didn't my brother leave with my son and his knights? Why was there no escort?" Otto questioned, his voice still tainted with bitter grief and irritation. Friedrich's father was a cruel man, loved humiliating others, his children included barring his heiress Weiss. Especially Friedrich. The useless one. Wilhelm was good with money, good with people, Weiss was the oldest strongest and commanded authority from the knights if no one else. Friedrich tried to find something to latch a meaning to, be it piano or science, his father didn't care. No matter how much he tried father laughed at him for bothering, for wasting his time trying to mean something when he was born without purpose. Still even Otto loved his brother, loved Uncle and wanted something to blame.

"He didn't care about safety, Herzog, he wanted to finish the new 'Ballistic Chain Scythe' he made for General Lagune, the half prince. In your honor of course. Which he did manage to do." Nimh pulled out what was a put together variant on the designs of Uncle Wernher's weapon, though it lacked the new finished design Summer had come up with, perhaps he had found a simpler solution? Luckily the Summer variant design was still on paper and Summer would keep her credit. Friedrich didn't know that the weapon they were designing together was for the half prince Lagune. To think his Uncle didn't even mention that.

"My idiot brother….I loved him, but that fat fool couldn't think of anything, but his robots. Not his safety, not the country, nothing. Everything was just an excuse to build more, even a gift for a prince!" Otto was shouting in fury, but seemed to almost cry. This was still hurting him; everyone loved their siblings no matter how much they could be annoying. Losing Weiss would be...unbearable. The thought of it sent a quake of discontent down Friedrich's spine. As mean as it sounded and as much as Friedrich loved his Uncle, he was happy it was Wernher and not Weiss or Wilhelm who had died. "Fat idiot...The world will suffer immeasurably from this death. Whoever killed them robbed the world of its doctor. I hope the damn Prince Lagune likes his new toy, hope he doesn't mind my brothers blood on his hands."

"I am sorry for your loss, Herzog." Nimh finished, bowing though the action clearly hurt her to do it. A small groan escaping her lips earned a look of pain and pity from every person in the hall, a million voices whispering sweet words. Even Otto no matter how cruel knew that pain was caused by being close to his brother, being there for him. Even the king of Ice has pity for that.

"In the meantime, Nimh I will have the doctors see to you, once you are capable we shall find you work in the kitchens until you are well to do work more becoming of you. You raised my children, I'm sure I can trust you to bring me stew. Dismissed." Otto motioned, shoulders slumped and breathing a heave. This was an emotional moment for him and it showed for once. "No more petitions, I've had enough for today." Friedrich's father finished waving off all protests for the day and emptying the hall. Someone still stepped up into the grey snowy light. A woman in white, long silver hair let loose with a look of conviction. It was Weiss.

"I mean to protest. Father, they murdered Uncle. They murdered him! Give me the order and I'll burn the forests down. I'll skin the Black Cat of Fort Castle alive!" Weiss screamed as she spoke, no one willing to step in the light with her. She didn't need it though; Weiss was always brave, rash and emotional. She had hurt and pain to motivate her. It was enough determination to freeze everyone in place, even her father whom turned shocked to the lady who stood ablaze while the open ceiling dropped fresh snow on her silver head.

"Burn the forests around Fort Castle? Are you insane?" Otto spoke in shock, ignoring all the pain in favor of sense. Something that whispers around them suggests most were in agreement, though a few proud knights did stand tall looking towards Otto in indignation. She had her knights, Weiss always did.

"An army will get chewed up in that forest, but if we burn it it'll burn the black cat and all his bandits out. We can run them down, get justice for uncle!" Some more of the onlookers began to nod in agreement, the sentinels of Vermilion, the old knights of Avarice, riders from the North Gate, even the captain of the Faunus irregulars. Plenty of people wanted blood, everyone loved Wernher. The most surprising was that Wilhelm didn't nod in agreement, but shaking his head in frustration. He seemed pained by it, but in total disagreement of everything. Friedrich didn't know enough about this to know which side was right. He wanted to see whoever did this was brought to justice, but what that entailed was beyond his knowing.

"It's Autumn, the forest is too wet to catch, not to mention you'll send the grimm into a frenzy!" Grimm were always a problem, they made everything complicated, even Friedrich knew that, but still that accusation made Weiss smile. She was waiting for it. His sister wanted blood for this crime and she knew how to get it.

"The fire dust rockets, the ones Wernher made, they'll light wet wood! The frenzied grimm will be a bigger problem for them than us, we'll be ready with every hunter one could want. Grimm, faunus, traitors, all of them straight to the abyss father. Just give the word." Weiss finished sending the crowds into a mutter, not fully on her side, but wild now not silenced like her father preferred them. Wilhelm seemed even paler, putting his hands to his face, completely upset by the whole mess. Qrow crossed his arms in discomfort and Summer hid behind all four of them, a small shadow on the moonstone hall.

"And what about Fort Castle, would you burn our allies down, start civil war?! Is that what you want? I heard about you harassing the merchants on the river road, what are you thinking!" Fort Castle was the problem. They were bitter rivals, but the next big thing Schnee Financing wanted to absorb. They had mines full of dust, not as many as the white river did, but more than most others. Wilhelm talked about it a lot, how much he worked on trying to get the mines under Schnee control. He was going to even marry for it.

"Our allies?! Oh haven't you heard father? They have been attacking our merchants, and the noble Lady of Fort Castle has seen to end your son's engagement in favor of the brigand Charles the Black Cat of Fort Castle. They have pissed on all of us. Murdered our Uncle, your brother and you want them to get away with it!?" Weiss didn't seem like she was acting or lying, instead she shouted with passion, with all sorts of heartache and red eyes wanting to cry, but Schnees don't cry, Weiss taught Friedrich that. For all her emotion and severity she had the passion that seemed sincere and it was winning over people, it even froze Wilhelm whom turned a deeper pale. Or could it be that he didn't know about that? Friedrich hadn't, but no one told the third child anything. He was used to that.

"We don't even know if the Faunus murdered my brother, Nimh didn't see the attackers. Faunus use nevermore feathers for arrows, but you know who else does? Deer hunters. Faunus have no grudge against us, loved my brother, I don't want you starting one. Not a soldier leaves our holdings, understood. This is over!" Otto finished it, leaving Weiss alone an aura of anger, angst, and aggression on her almost enough to melt in the snow laden main hall. She was unwilling to back down from this. Even as Otto walked away, others watched her, watched her lips and she whispered coward silently, but visibly. Clenching her fists in rage, the locks of silver and dim grey light blocked out her eyes. No one dare touch her, though knights walked out to join her, dutiful as they were. At some point Friedrich felt a pull on his arm, Wilhelm silently pulling him and Summer along, off into some hall to speak alone. He was upset, defeated and bitter. Friedrich could see it in his paleness, perhaps others could as well, for no one but Qrow followed them into the castle's back corner.

They stayed there for a moment, an open window the only light as Wilhelm marched back and forth frustrated, unable to reach some conclusion Friedrich did not know. It was a little unnerving for a man whom so often practiced seeming pleased under every circumstance be panicked. So unnerving that Summer soundlessly pulled herself behind Friedrich, reaching out and pulling on his white cloak. Qrow cut in front of them both though, arms crossed and eyes focused on Wilhelm, not pleased by any of this himself. The news really had shocked Wilhelm, was he so sure this would not escalate? Uncle was dead, there was no way things would stay the same. It was another crucible of war, forcing pressure on them. Friedrich was just eleven and even he could see that.

"Damn it all," Wilhelm started, but didn't finish stopping his pacing by the open window, taking in some of the outside grey light for his own, though he always did prefer shadows. He tapped his foot nervously, something Friedrich had also noticed with him in these moments. It was enough of an uncomfortable onslaught that Qrow stepped up, taking in some of the grey himself.

"Wilhelm, you said you wanted to stop the war, but since Wernher died you haven't done anything. The pay is good for not doing a thing, but I'm worried here, you're scaring Summer." To Qrow everything was about Summer, but Friedrich kind of admired that. He was exactly the kind of big brother people dreamed of having dedicated and there for his sister no matter what, no matter the money. Perhaps that was exactly why they were so poor.

"The rumors are true…. I need to save my fiancée. I thought this whole mess could be solved before she needed to resort to such desperate methods, but this war isn't what is going to do that." Friedrich had guessed it was something like that. Must have been a difficult position. Wilhelm openly disapproved of martial solutions for the most part. A proponent of local negotiation and neutrality, maybe it would have worked here, though Friedrich didn't really understand it, but it wasn't going to save his future wife.

"I didn't think you the romantic type." Qrow started, but stopped himself looking a little surprised by his words. It made Wilhelm laugh and shrug though, something Friedrich appreciated. "If war does start up, I'm done. I'm sorry, but the two of us are headed south where it's safe." Qrow finished, effectively handing in his resignation. Friedrich didn't really want that, Qrow was frightening, but Summer was a friend, one Friedrich had begun to enjoy despite his initial and some remaining resistance to the idea. Wilhelm shook his head no, refusing that off hand, though the younger brother doubted he had any way to really stop Qrow.

"If a traitor takes a fortress as massive and ancient as Fort Castle, the royal army will meet you coming north, and I promise you will not want to run into General Lagune looking like a refugee." Wilhelm replied, biting his thumb nail in thought, looking not at any of them, but into a wall. Not really there either, more in his head, still working out a scheme or plan to try and save the day. Qrow cursed at this, though Friedrich was not going to be the one to call him out on that. Still the point was true, from the bits and pieces of conversations people had around Friedrich, the prince now General Lagune was a very aggressive man, always looking to prove himself to everyone, trying to replace his heroic sister some said. Friedrich couldn't say if any of that was actually true though.

"Then do something," Qrow replied angrily. He was not the type to be pleased about anything that might be construed as a threat, though Friedrich doubted Wilhelm meant much besides just what he said. He seemed to earnestly like Qrow, and trust him. Wilhelm was not the type to threaten people he trusted.

"I need to investigate this; no one would have wanted Uncle dead. I also need to focus on Fort Castle, find some way to save my fiancée." Wilhelm stated the objectives, plainly and clearly, enough that even Friedrich understand them. Though they seemed counterproductive to each other from his perspective. Wouldn't he need an army to save her, namely the royal army?

"Well then let me do the investigating. I'm not really cut out for the work, but if you really mean to stop the war, I will do what I can," Qrow replied not managing to mention the money as well, they were poor after all. Friedrich could only guess that had some part in convincing them to stay and push for work. Friedrich was kind of surprised as well, after all that was kind of the point of keeping him on wasn't it? Sometimes Wilhelm did things that confused him a lot. His habit of sharing only half of what was on his mind obscured his objectives and made it hard to really tell what was going on.

"You can't. People are already asking why I'm paying you still. The smarter ones think you're my spy, and I haven't even had you do any spying yet." Wilhelm replied with a sort of laugh, a bit of his old self starting to shine through. He took a deep breath, letting out a warm visible cloud of vapor as he spoke again. "I took too long, my fault. Uncle's death shocked me a bit and delayed my plans. The money record points to me, I'm better off putting you to work hunting somewhere." He laughed lightly at his own mistake smiling lightly with a warm sort of sad smile. Qrow seemed relieved though shrugging to himself, he seemed happier to go back to normal work. Friedrich didn't know where the courage came, or the idea, but his mouth opened and it floated out lowly, almost a whisper in a soundless cold hall.

"I could pay him. I mean if it looks bad for you to do it, I'll just do it instead." Maybe he wanted to be a bigger part of it, or maybe he just wanted to be useful to the brother that was always trying to be there for him, but Friedrich offered to put the burden, one he didn't fully understand, onto himself. Qrow turned back with a strange confused perspective. Wilhelm just looked shocked at first, though his expression began to morph into a sort of amazed shock. Whatever Friedrich's idea really meant, Wilhelm thought it was brilliant.

"Friedrich you amazing little genius!" he shouted pulling Friedrich into a massive hug, one he really wished he hadn't. The feeling of being lifted was never one he enjoyed. "I can focus on Fort Castle like I should, take one stance, but have Qrow solve this with another and everyone will just think you're just starting to get involved in this spat between me and Weiss! Damn this is brilliant."

"Ahem." Qrow coughed dragging attention back to the Roses whom stood attentively awaiting what this had convinced Wilhelm of. The fire reignited in Wilhelm, he turned to them with a laugh, the old him in full force.

"From now on Mr. Rose you'll be receiving pay from Friedrich. My little brother will make a fine boss I think," He said with a laugh inspiring a glare from Friedrich.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked, not wanting to be the fool twice today. After all his clothes hadn't even dried yet from the snowball fight.

"Not one bit, you see, I'm going to be checking what I can of the royal army, if they do come I will join them and see about what subtler action we can perform than full out war, you on the other hand will prove who really killed my Uncle, keeping this thing from escalating beyond control," Wilhelm spoke as energetic as he could. He leaned back comfortably against the grey wall, a smile finally crossing his lips, the one he wore whenever he thought he had won something. Won what against whom, Friedrich had no idea.

"How?" Qrow asked, not sharing the same delight as Wilhelm did, probably disappointed he would not be back in the forest hunting monsters, more fitting work for him Friedrich had to admit.

"You will investigate the merchants' leaders, I can't because I'm supposed to represent them, but Friedrich can. They were very big into letting the caravans enter Fort Castle territory and despite losing a lot of money; they don't all seem so remorseful about it. See if they did it on purpose. I do know who could pay them a bribe worth it, but someone's stoking the flames, and it's probably the same group that killed my Uncle." Friedrich seemed to glow there, perhaps the light grey from outside brightened him like it did the moonstone. Maybe it was finally having this opportunity to strike back; maybe it was having any opportunity to do anything at all. Whatever it was, and whatever Friedrich must have done to allow it, he was happy. His big brother was back to himself. "The pressure is on now, things are going to go very poorly unless we get what we need done," Friedrich began again, the glow in his eyes in full effect. "So let's see if you can't save us all yet Mr. Rose."

***** Well here it comes, now the chapters are basically going to be a countdown to the battle of Fort Castle, the big piece of the Faunus war we actually know about from cannon. Personally I'm happy to start heading to the close to mid-way point of this fic. Plus I'm happy to have a release out only a week after the other. Hope you all enjoy and please remember if you're still reading to leave a review to keep this fic going. You all make it possible! :D**

**If you haven't checked it out I have a new RWBY fic up that is not a Vale series fic, but I like it anyways. Check out Choice, my new RWBY College A.U. with a twist. It's edited and kind of assisted in a million ways by LazyKatze, and check out her Layers of Ice. Very good.**

**As always thank you very much TCR for your edits, and check out his fic resistance if you like RWBY, WWII, and just really uncomfortably atmospheric things. It's even a little too heavy for me and I like heavy. Definitely worth checking if you like that sort of thing. Buh-Bye everyone! :D**


	9. Chapter 9: Hang Together

**Chapter 9: Hang Together**

**Lord Charles of Fort Castle**

"We're on the road, singing along!" Murray sang with a roar matched by a million more of his tribe. "Singing a soldier's song" The chorus was matched in force, all who knew it sang with him, plenty that didn't tried. The wedding fire bright despite the rains as was everyone's spirit. It was smoky for sure, but there was red to it, reflecting on Murray's bronze chest plate. It made everyone aglow, and soaking in the rain Charles enjoyed himself.

The wedding had passed proper, the formal vows and procedure done indoors in one of the human churches akin to Maledetta's faith. In this way Charles became Charles Cid, taking the name of his wife as was custom for their station, well enough, Charles had no last name to give up. In a church filled with people pretending to be happy with a beautiful wife dressed in all black white and purple, apparently Charles' colors. Still looking on her pale little form, valed and with false-sheepishness in her movements, he was the unhappiest man in the world. Once the ceremony was over though the party began. Not the stuffy one indoors with fine tables and silverware that should be sold for lien, not with guests to be entertained by stuffy jokes about others less stylish dresses. Maledetta could enjoy all that by herself. Charles snuck out to where he belonged, out with his people.

Here on in the camp beyond the Castle gates his band of brigands, bastards and bandits partied playfully. Many sung songs of solidarity, others lit lances of flames in the bonfires. The drinks flowed free and no one was dressed appropriately. All that mattered was the songs they sung, the beat that pounded their tables and that the fires kept out in the light sprinkle, a little fire dust proving just enough. A waste maybe, but looking on friends smiling Charles could not stop them. Even Azura whom stood next to him a bloody serious woman seemed to sincerely and sinfully smile at the slightest mention of 'Lord Charles of Fort Castle'. She never seemed the type to enjoy titles before. Perhaps it was just nice to know the boss was recognized.

"Things looking up," Azura dared to whisper watching Murray down his drink and roar another tune. He was a fount of soldier's hymns, apparently a pass time of his people. It was endearing for sure and got Charles in the spirit, sipping his own drink, or was it the third in celebration. Was so busy celebrating in fact that sitting by the fires he nearly forgot that he hated this marriage. Perhaps that was a sign that he had too many drinks.

"Nothing's really changed," Charles answered. Fort Castle was a Faunus keep for nearly a month now the marriage was just another ceremony to save some bruised bride and make the transfer a little more legal. Still weddings were supposed to be happy times, people were accustomed to celebration. Maybe Charles had it wrong looking into the discolored ale they had so lovingly liberated from the cellar.

"Everything's changed." Azura had a way with things, least Charles thought she did. Must have to speak so assure of everything. There was an idealist in that six and a half foot armored beast of a woman that he was sure of even in this slightly inebriated state.

"Want to be a knight? I can do that now apparently. Thought about making every man woman and child here a knight. Think it would be funny?" Charles did. Thought it might be the funniest thing in the world. The other knights wouldn't hear it, but three months prior they wouldn't hear of this wedding neither. Not that knight meant anything anymore. Any idiot with a lien to rub between them could buy a gun, couple more lien and you had some armor. Nothing separated them but a bunch of laws and pieces of paper that meant something long ago. Didn't matter now, not when Hunters and Huntresses made for twice the warriors. Maybe he just wanted to see the look on Amarilla's face when he did it. Little pleasures.

"They would kill you. Then I would have to kill them. All in all it's a pretty pissy joke." Azura shrugged and seemed pretty relaxed despite talking about his sudden and untimely demise. For a bodyguard she seemed fairly disinterested. If it wasn't for her winning personality Charles might have work more suited for her elsewhere. No, no Azura's place was there, he could ask for no better in life than a friend and protector like her.

"I thought it was funny," Charles replied with a giggle, taking a sip and gazing over the active flashes of light from the bonfire. The rare drops from the drizzle above making a popping sound in the flame, dimming it slowly. If the rain really picked up again it would put even their fire dust powered pyres out. Even end this celebration.

"Charles don't bother, I was always the funny one." Azura was a sarcastic woman for sure. Whether that made her sour or funny Charles thought might be more an argument in semantics. Still as the world enjoyed themselves, whether it was the Leo setting up a fight ring in the mud, the Simians playing rather heated poker matches, Taurus clans out causing havoc the way they were accustomed or Charles' own tribe dancing away near the heat of the fires, only the Canis as a whole, Azura's people, opted to stand guard. It was such a criminal arrangement for sure.

"Everyone, drink to the fullest and eat your fill! No one's to be left out, Canis included!" Charles stumbled, only a little as he stood and announced. His own people laughed and cheered aloud, many pulling the scattered armed Canis into dance. Some refused taking their service too seriously, others took to it, perhaps a little more cautiously with the drink, but not so spartan in their manners. All perhaps, but Azura who grimaced at the request. "That means you too Azura."

"Leave me alone you fat drunk." She laughed at least chiding Charles. He was about to retort that while drunk Charles was still rather skinny, but before he could utter the words a horn was sounded and over the castle intercom word came ringing of a rather unpleasant group of interlopers.

"Taurus at the Gates!" and they came. Though the rebellion had few trucks to move supplies or trains, Horses were plentiful. Falling out of use compared to airships and motorized carriages the rebellion found it easy to liberate them from the knightly class and purchase them from now impoverished ranchers. The Taurus took to them most affectionately. Riding in through the rain on black and white striped steeds common in the region like it was there natural state, these Taurus found no time to clean themselves many still caked lightly in mud and blood, surprising that the rain had not washed it off. Their armor was a mixture of wood and steel plates, vertical rectangle banners of a wilting flower on almost every soldier. The wilting flower was a familiar symbol to Charles now, the symbol of The Taurus. Akagura Taurus, the Taurus or the White-Bull some called. She rode ahead of them all in her white foreign looking dress encrusted with blood splotches and flowers. Over it she wore red and black armor of her people and their curved swords on her hip. The main weapon, known to Charles men as "The bull's horn" was a half sword half collapsible spear. A 'Naginata' Charles had heard one of the Taurus' warrior women call it. The blade was clean of any blood, but the wooden pole was stained with it. The horn's blade it had a bluish glow of electric dust runes in it, a weapon more suited to grimm hunting in better days. The Taurus rode up to Charles with no great hurry, many of the others making way for her and crates of some sort being brought with the Taurus.

"Lord Charles, I have a wedding gift for you." Akagura stomped the pole of her weapon on the ground as an announcement. In front of everyone these crates were sashed, filled to the brim with Lien and dust, far more than Charles had ever expected her to actually manage to gather. "More than enough to pay off our local debts and perhaps pay for tonight's festivities." It was surprising she didn't claim much herself, though Charles guessed she and her followers had to have pocketed some of the profit. That sort of looting was to be expected when you didn't pay the army you had.

"Not bad little bull, now get off yer horse and have a drink with us eh?" Murray started, the bronze beast pouring out a nice glass of some substance to drink. Despite the invitation no one dismounted, the soldiers seeming to take some offense to it, perhaps Murrays "little bull" nickname was not the most beloved sort for this lot.

"Relax the both of you, have the money brought into the castle, we'll figure it out in the morning after we've enjoyed an evening. As for whatever prisoners you've captured, set them up in the Castle dungeon, nothing too poor though, the merchants I doubt gave you trouble." They had to have given some, blood marks proved that. Some of the other Taurus smiled at that, though if Akagura did he would not know, the white grimm bone mask a fortress between them. She did love to hide herself didn't she?

"We have very few prisoners Lord Charles, aside from two or three knights of Castle White worth interrogating. We thought it an inconvenience." Akagura's followers found this the most pleasing, though Charles felt a bit of red in anger combined with white in fear. Knights of Castle White meant nothing, but trouble. Kill a merchant and you're a bandit, kill a knight and you've started a war.

"Knights? Why do we have Knights? Castle White is neutral." Charles could feel Azura grow tense, her hand reaching for the blade. There was no way he would let it get that bad, but she always did that when faced with something like that. Sort of a Huntress' natural defensive state. Still Charles was just as uncomfortable, made even more so when the line of Taurus cavalry laughed at the question. Clearly this was all the butt of a rather pissy joke.

"Weiss the Heiress of Castle White sent a patrol of knights to investigate your merchants, so we investigated them as well. Didn't expect us and striking at night gave us the advantage. No one escaped I promise. No word of this will ever reach the Heiress I promise." Charles wanted to reprimand her, but they were in no position to. The Taurus made up a nearly a third of their total strength matching the combined force of all Canis and Simians here. Whatever the cost he couldn't have them leave. Murray didn't share that fear.

"You insane woman? Don't tell me you road into Schnee territory just to chase some boys around!?" The same drink he poured for her fell to the ground shattering as it struck. Murray stood in opposition a massive man nearly as tall as she was on the Horse, but for all that Akagura didn't even twitch, just stared back from behind the mask cold and dead,

"What does it matter? It'll be our land soon enough. Do not act so meek." That sentence nearly took Murray over the edge, a quick step towards the horse, claymore in hand he seemed pose to see if he could take out both, aura flaring. Charles stood to shout and Azura, seeming to read his mind, stepped between them both

"No fighting, gods the world is trying to kill us and now you two are going to do it for them?" Charles might have been drunk, but even he had more sense than either of these two at the moment. Pickering had already riled the Leo up ready to brawl despite most being unarmed. The Taurus had no desire to look weak either, and they were much more prepared for a fight. This was like a mob of very deadly children. "Taurus, you promised to listen to me as long as you are in my lands, well then let me be clear, we can't risk more fighting. Don't cross the border into neutral territory. I understand you want to get a fight, but trust me we have some coming." The army had to cross up through Forever Falls, home to the bulk of the Simian and Leo tribes. No army would stop them, but plenty of scattered fighters would bleed it and slow it down. Still what would come on the other side had to be big.

"You will be grateful for thinning the knights one day Charles. For now I'll respect it. We are your guests after all." She didn't seem appeased or upset; just spoke with a matter of fact dry tone. Still her words made it clear she did not think of anyone outside the faunus as anything but the enemy. She wasn't completely off, but if that was the case how would they ever win. faunus were the minority, and numbers decided wars. Charles couldn't count in the state he was in, but when the difference is big as this, counting wasn't needed to tell who had the numbers.

"Thank you." If the night could turn sour quicker it would. Soon as the Taurus were settled Charles saw his wife step out into the rain, a flock of old and young knights with her. It was late and Charles had a sickening twist in him thinking about what came next. He didn't know what in him was repulsed by the woman, but it was. The Taurus rode to her, likely saying words of congratulations, but Charles was just happy to have a moment to brace himself.

"Charlie, I do think it's time you desert us for finer things. Her breed isn't quite my taste me boy, but you can do worse than her, I know it." Murray joked, mood turning a more pleasant brand. Charles was about to offer it to him instead, seeing how positive he was toward her, but Murray's preference for things other than woman was common knowledge to a most of Fort Castle by now. Plus Azura might take the joke too seriously and berate Charles for being a poor husband. Of all the bad things he had been called, a bad husband was yet to be on the list and he didn't want to add it just yet, though getting mildly intoxicated on the wedding night was perhaps not the best way to a positive trend.

"Charles, my dear. I apologize for being so busy with the formal party; I understand your people are more accustomed to open air weddings." The apology left Charles feeling a bit guilty about it. Though she was responsible for a lot of the cruelty in Fort Castle her frailness made it difficult to blame her. It made Charles view her advisers as the guilty ones, all his hate directed towards them; instead she just made him feel guilty and awkward. "In more pleasant news, we've repaired the radio tower."

"Sorry, I'm not used to the formal parties...Wonderful news though," Charles replied with an ever light sip of his drink, trying his best to not offend the girl despite being an unfortunately undesired component to this party. Still having radio transmission was good, even if it wasn't really that meaningful. After all who did they have to chat with? Instead it was a spying tool to gather the local news, something Charles was grateful that he had not sabotaged too well during the early days.

"What we heard once the radio contact with the outside world was established was less wonderful. Charles, the royal army bypassed Forever Falls completely, airships dropped them off at Ice Marsh on the coast, a straight shot to Castle White. They will take no more than two weeks to get here." If the night wasn't bad enough the one advantage they had, control over the only roads to north Vale vanished. All the stalling and all the blooding that could have been done. How they even managed to get enough airships to transport the royal army was enough of a stretch. The air fleet in Vale was big and Ice March had their own, still they would need more from Mistral or the other kingdoms. It dawned on him that it might be an allied army and with the thought he needed another sip. "They know about the wedding and plan on disputing the claim. After hanging us all of course." Charles wondered if they meant to dispute it before or after they hang him. Seemed pointless to have a big court case over a dead man's rights.

"That gives us maybe two weeks to prepare… Well that spoils a wedding. I don't like hanging," Charles admitted with a nervous chuckle. The news would spread tomorrow and everyone would lose all the moral this festival earned them. Bad luck.

"I don't think any of us do," Maledetta replied, her calm attitude matching Charles. For all their problems it was at least nice to know they shared a similar temperament.

"What do we do then?" Charles asked his counsel, a massive hulking huntress, a drunken Leo, and a sickly princess. What a diverse group.

"Strengthen our defenses, and well...further legitimizing your claim and mine," Maledetta had a hitch in her voice when the words 'legitimize your claim' crossed her lips. For once she seemed a little embarrassed, still standing straight and noble chin up as for the first time color touched her cheeks.

"Legitimizing my claim?" Charles asked feeling that irking sensation that he sounded like an idiot. Murray's laugh cemented that and Azura's groan offered no pity to him.

"Consummate the wedding boy!" Murray added to a bout of giggles. Charles took a deep breath hearing his own shout back 'oh yeah that' even after just talking about it a moment ago it seemed still distant. Perhaps that was drink sapping his memory. Clearly Maledetta didn't her expression mortified by Murray's blatant personality. "That and if you can get a pregnancy it'll make her immune to hanging by law for a time and better the claim." No one executes a pregnant woman. A really desperate stall if Charles had ever heard one.

"Shut up the both of you, ruining the mood. Gods Charles don't make the girl beg. Poor thing is trying to help you!" Azura shouted at Charles with her own look of mortification. Only mortified Maledetta even more and did a good bit to mortify Charles as well. Everyone could stand to be a little less mortified to be right honest as far as he saw it. Except perhaps laughing Murray who could just stand to be less mortifying.

"I wasn't begging," Maledetta replied with a deep breath and a very unpleasant shake of her head the thin black ribbons of hair falling in place on her now pink cheeks. "I know I'm not exactly-" Exactly what Charles had expected, a human wife wasn't exactly unheard of for him, but a noble one was very much so. Still, nothing had to be as bad as her, and in a moment of sympathy Charles remembered that this woman had her fate served to her, Charles most certainly wouldn't have been the picture perfect dream she had as a child.

"No, don't say that, if anything I'm not exactly what you dreamed of," Charles admitted never the intentionally cruel man. He played at it as a bandit, but it wasn't his natural state, instead he abhorred it. Maybe out of meekness more than morals, but still it was never his way for long.

"A hero for a husband is not a terrible thing," she spoke smoothly and softly, tossing in a smile with her line. It was a good one for sure a real heart warmer if it didn't make Charles just feel guiltier. He wasn't a hero, luck and doing things out of necessity didn't make heroes. Still it made Charles glow a little; it had been a while since he had time to hear anyone speak affectionately towards him.

"Oh now Maledetta, I never thought you the flirt." Azura laughed and hooted, more the ladies lady than Charles ever was the ladies' man. She seemed to enjoy the flirting a little more than Charles did, or maybe she just got pleasure from watching Charles reduce himself to an awkward sod. Or perhaps, despite everything she had done, Azura was growing more comfortable with Maledetta. She did have such a disarming personality.

"This is all rather embarrassing," Maledetta admitted, her persona a little broken. She laughed and it made everyone else laugh with her. She certainly was more of a people's person than anything else.

"Agreed, and it shouldn't have been Mala. You two take the evening off and Charles," Azura started the Canis woman pulling Charles subtlety to his feet. A clear charge of duty. For the next words she whispered into Charles ears, a giggle attached to them. "I don't care who she is, if you don't treat your wife well on her wedding night, I'll break your damn fingers."

* * *

><p>When Azura threatens you, you do it and to the best of his abilities Charles did. There was no way in his inebriated state could he have lifted her bridal style to her bed up the Lady's Tower, their new estate. Instead he settled to pull her by the hand, half for his own stability and at least some effort to seem romantic. Many faunus whistled and roared as they passed, the party still going even as the guest of honor customarily left for the night. Eventually as they entered the Castle the more Stoic knights gave either unpleasant grimaces or subtle winks depending on which particular political leaning they had on the faunus issue. If anything the grimaces would make this more enjoyable, Charles did take a sweet pleasure from knowing that what he was about to do would haunt them for a while to go.<p>

Whatever gusto that might had embedded in him began to leave as they climbed the staircase together, the maze of clockwork inside the tower making uneasy clicks as they came to the top floor. The room had one guard, who nodded and agreed to watch the staircase from the floor below. The room itself was more personalized than Charles had thought Maledetta would have. Where yellow would have been the design to mark Cid colors, Maledetta chose black and purple curtains and bed sheets, the dim light illuminating the purple walls. The sides were covered in tables and desks, a bookcase wrapping around a fourth of the circular room, some alchemic dust research on the end of it, something Charles was unaware Maledetta dabbled in. Other tables were for food, or radio or writing. The biggest though was a map with chess pieces on it, black and white. Charles ignored the looming bed that was placed in the center, a mass of purple and black that could sleep half an army. Instead he took to the map, arranging his chess pieces by location. Black Knights would be the Taurus, the bishops Canis, rooks made for Leo and the pawns his own along with the Simians and scattered others who shared much of the same talents. The white were everyone else, though Charles could only guess what would be in the ranks.

"Don't worry about that for now. You've had a bit to drink to think of a plan now," Maledetta whispered from behind, though Charles had a difficult time making her voice out, the drinks starting to take hold. Though it blurred his vision, he began to set these pieces up, forming different lines and positions on the flat map of Vale.

"I just...need to figure it out. It's right here in the map, the answer is always on the map." It was Charles' primary martial philosophy. Numbers, what type of soldiers and the terrain was all you needed to know; from there it was just about setting it up. Wasn't genius or particularly clever. The answer was right there you just had to find it. Helped a little when you could read the altitude marks on the map however.

"Not always, Sir Guido use to obsess over maps just like you and I hear you beat him. Is it like a staring contest?" she joked though Charles grimaced. He didn't want to hear that name right now, in this state at night staring on a map, not the name and not the memories. Dead men should rot.

"Please don't compare us." Charles didn't mean to sound so rough, but he did the pain of old wounds on his lips. This was why he didn't drink, emotions became hyper sensitive and harder to push down. "I'm sorry I just need a moment to think."

"It's alright, are you nervous? Is this the first time y-" Charles didn't need her to finish.

"No it's just." Just what Charles didn't really know. Still he lined up his players and pieces along the board just as he had done a million times before and looked for the answer. It wasn't coming to him and now his eyes were blurred beyond focus. "Are you okay with this? You barely know me."

"Whether we like it or not, we are married. Our enemies see us as one. We will live together or hang together. Our choices are together...our fates are stuck together what hurts one hurts the other. For that reason we can trust each other," she said it plainly, grasping it even if Charles struggled with it. "but I wouldn't mind learning about you. Why did you hate sir Guido so much? Why fight? What makes you the Black Cat?" The question was a trigger and old gears that had not turned in half a year started again, the music of unpleasant memory to play alone in Charles' head again. Taking up another glass of wine he drank it down hole, the last bit of dulling he needed to say the words.

"I used to have this friend, wonderful girl named Lucia, like me with the ears and all. We grew up very close, Lucia, Azura, and I. She was a miner girl, pretty, but strong enough for it." He choked on every word as he spoke, the night coming to him as if it was just the last night. It never really left him, just gave him a respite till now. "One evening when we were walking home, Guido, drunk and armed came up demanding service. Lucia tried to explain she wasn't a working girl, but Guido didn't care, or wasn't listening. He just added another couple of Lien to his offer when she said it. Eventually he got tired of it, said 'it's the law' and dragged her into some back alley. There were plenty people there, everyone saw. Easily twenty of us Faunus, enough to kill a man like that." Twenty Faunus made twenty one guilty and one innocent.

"And that was the day you lead the miner's revolt," Maledetta guessed, taking to the fairy tale version of what happened, but she was right. Life wasn't a fairy tale; it was filled with failure and regret, filled with cowardice. With complacency and turning your head down whenever something bad happened around you.

"No that was the thing, it wasn't that day, Guido wasn't at the miner's revolt." Charles shook as he spoke, the desk now holding him up. The young man wished he could say retelling him didn't make him cry, but it did. "No it was six months later, three months after Lucia hung herself, two months after we had finally convinced ourselves it wasn't anyone's fault. Revolt happened when I was caught for, listen to this, poaching!" The tears dropped freely now, though he laughed at it, idiot caught with a freshly tackled deer from a forest he was never allowed. "It wasn't 'cause I was a hero, I just didn't want to die. The guards beat me right in the town street where I tried selling my kill. They beat me so bad I thought I was going to die so I stabbed one in the throat and fought the others." It was easy once it happened, once it was his life on the line. Where was that courage when it meant something, where was it?

"I'm supposed to tell myself I was powerless to stop Guido when I had a bow and twenty arrows, but here I am stabbing a guard in the throat with a god damn skinning knife. A coward who couldn't be the only faunus killed for a crime he actually committed. Worst of all was the old man, faunus chap like me. He must have been a miner, he had a pickaxe. Caved in the other guard's skull, saved my life and got shot for it. Never forgave him for that, this damn old man with more courage than me who died for me, proving I wasn't just like everyone else, some powerless bystander, that I was a coward. More pathetic than this grey haired faunus man with one god damned ear." Charles forgot all about who was in the room, the carnival of emotions started and it wasn't going to stop, never going to stop. Charles felt his legs buckle and give out finding himself collapsed in the desk's wooden chair. He reached for a drink, but it escaped him, the glass falling to the floor, a red pool forming in its shattered remains. "It should have been me, me who fired an arrow into Guido's fucking neck! I should have hanged in the gallows with Lucia! Where was I? Where the fuck was I?!"

"Shush Charles, my dear shush." The daze of tears and alcohol twisted his perspective, but the rooms glow seemed to come from Maledetta's form, the outline a bright almost irritable white, his eyes already hypersensitive to light. She was naked, had she been before or did she change? Charles couldn't tell. She looked beautiful, frail form and pale skin complemented by rich black ribbons of her raven locks. It wasn't her form that made the tears pause, but her voice, sweet. Almost like Lucia's. "It's just us, no more maps, no more of the past. It's just us here." She stepped closer resting her form on Charles' laps, her thin hands reaching out to wipe the tears away thin fingers scratching the backs of his ears.

"Maledetta I-" Charles would have protested, but lips met his and silenced him. Perhaps her, the drink, the regrets, everything, but his resistances melted away like the leaves of autumn.

"No more tears. You have a chance to live for something. We have to live together Charles, and one day we might have to hang together like I said, but until then-"

****So how do you like the not lemon lemon part that is actually really really sad? Kind of wanted to cement Charles as not Gary Stew at all, instead have him deal with issues of cowardice, complete and utter failure and a story about something like that that actually had long term emotional destructive effects to everyone, you know like the real thing? Tell me how you think it came out and if it had a bit of feels and funny like I hoped?**

**Also 2 chapters left before the battle of Fort Castle. It's almost time for this to get bloody. (Though I think I'll include a fight in the next chapter to please the action starved readers :D) Please review and tell me what you think and see you next time.**

**As always thanks to TCR for edits!**


	10. Chapter 10: Don't Say Goodbye

**Chapter 10: Don't Say Goodbye**

**Wilhelm Schnee of Schnee Dust Company**

A spear point. The long and wide wedge of bladed steel was no one's toy and an ancient weapon. It was a tool older than time, yet still used by Mistralian warriors as masterfully as the inventors of the art. To watch Weiss dance through it, the stabbing thrusts, the twisting slashes and subtle strikes of the Mistralian spear was especially exhilarating. The sparring match, though the weapons of choice were very much the real thing, was waged for only a moment and already, between the blurry frames Wilhelm's eye tried to process, he could see a flurry of different attempts to strike out against Weiss.

These early seconds were filled with swift, weak and seemingly pointless strikes that Weiss had always taught Wilhelm was about feeling your opponent, learning what will make them parry, what will make them defend, what will irritate them and lastly what will fool them. Weiss preferred to deny her enemies this grace period, dodging, blocking, but never striking. She could learn all about her opponent's offense without showing them hers. It was risky; the white clad heiress to Castle White had much shorter weapons, duel swords, a long rapier one might have called it an estoc in her left and a shorter rapier in her weaker right. Still the style was one fit for dodging and slapping her opponent's weapon away, almost taunting the entire way through.

The opponent, dressed in brown cloth, bronze plates with a matching bronze helm that covered her entire head and face aside from small slits, was a paragon of Mistralian martial history. She was the leader of a mercenary band called the brave bronze five hundred, whom only truly numbered four hundred and thirty-five. Wilhelm supposed there is no such thing as a brave war band with an unchanging number of members. As most Mistralian warriors, they armed themselves with bronze circular shields strengthened with dust and telescopic spears that could easily become javelins. She used much the same as most Mistralian warriors, but with utmost mastery found in few.

Though Mistralians were most known for battling as cohesive units, at least so Wilhelm has read, this woman wanted to test Weiss, face her in the moonstone dueling hall. A long cathedral styled room, the normally stained glass replaced with open holes exposing the hall to the elements. Many were present, a scattered few other mercenary band leaders, what knights from the Royal Army were allowed in the Castle, and of course Friedrich, little boy ever a fan of Weiss. It was hard not to be, Wilhelm admitted. She was his biggest rival, yet he loved her dearly.

The fight continued, the spear point stabbing its way into the left of Weiss, one she easily smacked away with the long thin estoc, her right hand free for a strike, but it never came. The Mistralian was smart enough to hold her shield in defense and Weiss was clever enough to not bother. It seemed almost a stalemate when the spear was held above the range of the estoc like rapier, pulling the point above the two of them, holding the shaft under the opposition's arm for further control. She slammed it down, enough force in the strike that when Weiss blocked it with the Blade of the longer sword, the spear point almost kissed her pale lips.

Right underarm exposed, Weiss went to stab with the smaller rapier, the blade nearly nicking her opponent when the Mistralian jumped to the left, performing an imperfect cartwheel without her hands. Landing so perfectly she spun the spear around, anything within the points spiral path would be struck and sliced clean. Friedrich breathed in suddenly, afraid, but Wilhelm wasn't. He was not bad with a rapier himself, but his teacher, the best swordswoman he knew, was his older sister Weiss.

Weiss who wore no armor, but knowing the value of footing and a nimble body hopping ever so close to the blade, body just bent out of range. One second off and it would have been over, but Weiss was always primed for a jump, her feet almost off the ground at any given moment in a fight. The crowd was enamored by that near strike, always pleased when someone nearly dies in a duel, and Weiss was always looking to play it a little more dangerously to win over a crowed. Winning people over by her style with a sword was her way after all.

The spin finished Weiss went for a strike with the long blade, a feint attack at best. Wilhelm would know it; anyone that fought her would, but not the Mistralian. She cartwheeled to the side again, dropping down the sharp metal point of the spear, but where flesh, blood and woman should have been was a short rapier above. The long estoc like rapier was free to swing around, just barely missing the opposition's head, striking the bronze helmet, sending it flying a ways. The Mistralian was redheaded, her shoulder length hair in a frenzy when freed from the helm. She had the queerest deep scar on one side of her face, hidden by red bangs. It was a red clean line, a strike from a heavy sword. She was pretty even still, her green eyes alive with motion.

She swung the spear around again, but Weiss was prepared for this moment. Her long blade free it caught the spear point. Pulling back the estoc, the blade caught on the hook in the spear point, the woman had one choice. To save her spear, the opposition took a step forward, freeing the blade, one step right into Weiss' range.

Desperate for more ground, the Mistralian flipped back, but Weiss simply jumped forward. No escape, a spear was a perfect weapon to keep an enemy at bay, but useless in a fight this close. Weiss had the ground, stabbing with both blades, harassing her opponent, shield desperately moving to block each stab, the force dust infused steel sending out sparks with how fast it struck the bronze and dust based shield. The sound it made and the force that struck reminded Wilhelm of lightning.

In a storm, lightning always hits the ground, always finds a mark. This time was no exception. The estoc moved to block the shaft of the spear as if it was just a flimsy pole, the other blade found its spot comfortably kissing the neck of the opposition. A perfect win had the longer blade blocked the spear. Mistralians use telescopic spears to make shorter, heavy javelins. This spear shrunk, going right under and passing the blade complete, primed to extend right into Weiss' unarmored uniform.

"I like your scar," Weiss stated, her blade unmoved, the coldness of it on the red heads neck, the thought alone made Wilhelm want to tremble. Still the red head did not move one bit. She smiled even, her green eyes looking back at his sister.

"As do I yours Heiress. You are certainly the best swordsman in the north Vale." The Mistralian was the first to back down, pulling away battered shield and stepping back from the blade tip. It left the slightest nick, not even a full drop of blood coming out. "I should introduce myself, I am Thetis Nikos. Captain of the Brave Bronze Five hundred. I wanted to see how my new employer would do fighting." That earned a raised eye from Weiss, a delightful idea by all accounts. One Wilhelm would not leave unattended for sure.

"I was under the impression that your band of mercenaries were here on contract with the Royal Army?" Weiss was the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, as any sensible person should. Cynicism was often treated for some peculiar reason as a weakness. Wilhelm considered cynicism with a smile the best possible life activity.

"The allied army has failed to pay any lien, cheap bastard General Lagune is. The lady here, as well as my men, we need lien to eat, and the only ones who seem to have two of them to rub together is the good old Schnee," Another man spoke, not Mistralian, but clearly a northerner. One of the other mercenaries from the royal army, sizable brute of a man with one eye, a vest strapped with homemade grenades and a war hammer emblazoned with a lightning bolt. "Rollo Valkyrie of the Northman Company. We're looking for contract work as well. We got faunus fighters, but they're loyal to the meal. Good thousand of us total."

"I can handle this, my dear sister will be leading you, but I will be paying you. As I'm sure you've heard." Wilhelm stepped in right when he was needed, the company man after all. Weiss gave an annoyed look, though if it was real or just part of their act Wilhelm couldn't tell.

"Wilhelm Schnee." One of the other mercenaries he actually had the displeasure of knowing as just Captain Thrush, leader of an old fashion cavalry group known as the Condottieri. Wilhelm's name came with no titles, though he could tag on Sir to be polite. After all he was a knight technically. No Heir, lord or anything of note, but something. Wilhelm did not let himself seem offended though; smile instead let it all seem like nothing. Thrush could call him whatever he wanted so long as he and his Condottieri died for him. "I was under the impression you would be going with the Allies to take back Fort Castle for your fiancée. Can't pay us if you die after all."

"If I die, the next president of the Schnee Company will pay you. The company is who you work for, not me," Wilhelm cleared up with a smile. This was not a pleasant subject for him, especially not in front of his sister.

"He won't be leaving anyways. This campaign is an idiot's venture. If General Lagune really plans on his force marching in the middle of night to attack a fortified position, my father will never agree and you will all be happy you signed on with the snowflakes." The snowflakes were meant to be an insult to the Schnee forces that were considered very "flakey" on the position of war with the faunus. As soon as Weiss had heard the first royal soldier say it when the army arrived a day ago, she laughed and took it as a badge of honor.

"Please see me after the meeting, we'll come up with the contracts then at a very beneficial rate I promise. For now, excuse me and my sister," Wilhelm finished with a mild bow as was custom, quick to pull his bull headed sister away before causing more trouble. She was already famed for her pro-war yet anti-royalist tendencies. A deadly combination that did not lead to a healthy social circle.

"You don't really intend to join them?" Weiss whispered in hushed words having the sense not to actively expose her worry. They were still in Castle White, but it was swarming with royalists now and foreign troops. The Human Alliance had found its way to White River. "It's not about the woman is it? Your fiancé went and married one of the animals that killed Wernher. She'll be hung for it if I get my way." It was always about the woman after all. Weiss knew it, Wilhelm knew it, any spy with any sense knew it. Sure as Qrow's scowl their father knew it too.

"If I save her-" There was no real point in saying it. Try as Wilhelm might, as good a sister as Weiss was, she would never know what it meant to be the second son.

"She gave up. She doesn't need saving." Weiss didn't bother whispering, taking large steps forward, heeled boots clicking to the ground with authority, her silver hair flowing as she moved ahead. The woman was damn near six feet, why she chose to wear heels was beyond Wilhelm, but they did suit her.

"If I go save her, I'm lord of Fort Castle; I'm the businessman that can reconcile the new age with the old. I don't…I don't and I'm just the second child till the day I die. After all I always wanted to be a romantic," Wilhelm added a laugh as he finished. He tried not to beg, but damn if she wasn't going to understand. This was his future; a peaceful solution might have been and maybe still could if Qrow's investigation revealed more truth, but if not. Wilhelm had to be there, had to find a middle ground, lead his own investigation into the army and maybe even the enemy.

"Little brother…." Weiss tried to argue, her eyes flashing a look of pity, almost grasping for a second. Any hope of that drifted away when company arrived, Qrow was there, though Summer the sweet child was not, likely off playing wherever Friedrich was. Qrow was a skeptic of Weiss, as Weiss was of him. He secretly hated her, and she openly hated him. Standing opposed, a noblist and a republican, bitter enemies, though neither were bad people.

"Hello Wilhelm. You asked for me." Qrow had spent little of his earned money, still dressed in the same black leather and red cloth, skinny and ripped. A hunter through and through and a bloody brutal one at that. His words were moderate, but the disdainful silver eyes were honest. Wilhelm supposed that's why he liked him.

"You need to send your pet Roses home," Weiss suggested stepping closer to the hunter, near half a foot taller in heels to Qrow. Their glare was not broken until an airship's shadow passed through the exposed Castle halls, grasping their attention just for a moment. These shadows, phantoms of the flying dust fortresses becoming a more and more common sight these days.

"I want you to watch the proceedings with me Qrow. I imagine it will be very interesting." Wilhelm cut his way between them, patting the old boy on the shoulder to cool him before they would be at each other's throats again. Weiss took note of this, unfortunately, and stamped her way down the hall. It was not the sort of walk out Wilhelm would have wanted.

"Your father is holding a proceeding for General Lagune. You want me to be there?" Qrow asked stating the dreadfully obvious. He was a clever man, if a bit of a dullard when it came to these sorts of things. Pulling him along Wilhelm started in a hurry, the duel a much more lengthy feature than planned. The Moonstone was aglow in a special way only twilight ever gave them. Sun was setting and the final of many proceedings were with it.

"You're going to be a spy for my brother, best learn about those you spy on." Chatter from the main hall reverberated from all sides as they approached, the second floor of the same arched structure. Wilhelm did not intend to participate in this discussion. He would have to leave with the army, but officially he was of the anti-war faction, leaving to act as consult for the general and a negotiator. In the balcony they could speak in hushed tones privately. There were others, some of his faction, some of the army, others of his sister, but most were the echoes of conversation below.

"Here he comes." Wilhelm couldn't remember the last time this whole venue was so full. Herzog Otto sat in the moonstone high seat, the Snowflake sigil and dusk light behind him. Almost seemed young again, a silver bush on his chin to hide the wrinkles, a strong smile. This was something he looked forward to. In front of him, dressed in a greenish blue plate was the aforementioned General Lagune. He was flanked by sub commanders and foreign dignitaries thinking they could place their bets with the king's last natural born child. He liked to figure himself a warlord, this General Lagune. Most children did so enjoy playing at war.

"General Lagune...Why is he here?" Qrow asked very well knowing the answer. The early meeting formalities were being performed, gifts given. The prototype weapon Wernher made to the General and gifts of Mistralian fabrics and jewelry to Otto. The younger man was clearly more enamored by his gift than the older. "I know he wants Castle White to join him, but why beg, he's the general. Don't you have to give in?"

"Long time ago maybe, but the royal family is not in good shape. Many of the nobility have refused to go to war. Ice Marsh and us the most importantly. The parliament is also against it." Without the support a king's power was just an illusion. No one had more power than themselves, which was what separated real power with the powered power of supporters. "The support has gotten even more fickle as the war goes. Now most of the nobility have given up. The only ones supporting the Royalist are the foreigners from Atlas and Mistral."

"Lord Otto. I understand you have not joined us," Lagune started taking a step forward pressing the issue. It earned a massive smile from Wilhelm's father who seemed ever so cheery about the issue. "Ruthven joined us. Just like you they were unsure about the war till now. The rest of Vale has rallied behind us. Why are you so skeptical?" Ruthven was the province to the south of Schnee territory. Another Neutral faction until the Royal army cut through their capital taking with them all the soldiers they could. Ruthven was not Castle White.

"I won't because your plan is stupid. A force march in the dark. A nighttime ambush against faunus guerrillas, are you stupid boy?" Many people tried to hold back their laughter, most people didn't. Too many people didn't. Otto enjoyed this thoroughly. He was famous for the negative attitude towards both Royalist and parliamentary Republicans. Came with the power base he built and the wealth of the family.

"You're father isn't a very nice man is he?" Qrow whispered, making no understatement. He was...a difficult man. Wilhelm never really liked him, but he was admirable in certain ways, a good man who did good things. He was a lord that helped his people. Someone who with a curse, a swear and an ill attitude made everyone's life better. "If no one supports the king or the war, why is it going on?"

"Human idiocy." Folly of mankind is the inability to cooperate. A basic human tradition arguing semantics was. "We are noblist, you could call us moderates, the other anti-war group are the Parliamentary Republicans, most radical group. We hate each other to put it mildly, but the more the war goes on the bigger we both get. That's why the Royal family is so desperate to end this quickly. They frankly need our support." In a political battle only one faction can win, Weiss and Wilhelm played at that enough, pretending one was winning or the other, but never could they openly act as unified victors.

"Are things really that bad for them?" Qrow asked in disbelief. Wilhelm had been disillusioned about royal authority when he was a child. Most were not so lucky. Qrow lived in a village in some snowy forest, their values preserved by distance and ice.

"Worse. King's sister is pushing for reform. A member of the royal family joined the Parliamentary Republicans. Couple that with every prince and princess aside from the illegitimate Lagune dying, you have a succession crisis." Deaths of a king were the worst moments in a kingdoms history. The Kingdom of Vale was no different. All across the world though, kingdoms stopped being about kings and queens. Nations like the new Faunus Free Menagerie Republic made the radical ideas grow.

"You don't believe in fairy tales do you Lord Schnee? I expect you to be better educated than that. We will take Fort Castle, with or without you, but when we come back we'll remember who followed the law. Everyone pays Lord Schnee!" Lagune tried to turn the tables on Wilhelm's father, but threatening the Castle in mourning was a bad idea. Otto turned red and many people gave Lagune cruel looks. This was not Ruthven, with Wernher dead any threat was personal. The dear prince was truly stupid.

"Follow the law? I protect my people, collect the taxes and enforce king's law. I damn well follow the law. If you manage to get through the forest without being punctured full of arrows, give my best wishes to the Black Cat when he hangs you." Otto stood as he yelled, a fit of coughs following his shouts. Otto's age was showing, but so was Lagune's discomfort. He didn't know what to do, his threats all empty and last request shattered against the ground. "Insolent child. You think you'll be king? I'd rather bow to a beowolf. Get your toy soldiers out of my city!"

"We will leave tonight. You have till midnight to change your mind and join your cause." Lagune was desperate to get a clasp on the draining authority. His delegation was already beginning to vanish, none wanting to be around the prince. Still the order meant Wilhelm's plans would be sped up. Only a few scattered hours to plan before he went off to fight a war all by himself. If only he could spend his enemies to death.

* * *

><p>The white river was a peaceful pale blue right next to the river of torches out of the city. The light of the allied forces flooded out of the city into a partnered stream from where Wilhelm stood alone in his room. Wilhelm had meant to pack himself ready, but there was nothing of value that could not be found in his car. Food and weapons would be found with the army, General Lagune would not refuse him that. Instead Wilhelm wasted away in the private quarters. He had wanted to see Friedrich once more, say goodbyes, but goodbyes were bad luck. Wilhelm hated them. Instead he stayed. Wanted to make Weiss understand, but she was nowhere to be found. Father wouldn't know about his planned leaving, lest Wilhelm be disowned. Only Nimh would come with him, a sweet woman willing to drive Wilhelm off to the abyss free of charge. Maybe she wanted justice for Wernher after all. A good woman.<p>

In these final moments Wilhelm wondered about the Roses. Summer sweet thing, truly a blessed child and then Qrow, good hard working man. Wilhelm might just be a lord one day, what was that like? To really be the leader of these hard working people, some less so. Would it be like being a father? Or maybe a teacher? If Wilhelm could be a lord of a thousand Roses they would be able to build something perfect. There was still something he had to do, had to prove it. Get a Castle of his own. Then maybe Summer and Qrow could live there, he and his sister could be equals, and Friedrich. Friedrich could be carved out a plot of land. Poor child got nothing when Otto died. At least Wilhelm wasn't the third child.

A lot of things Wilhelm wanted to do, but want meant nothing in this world. Only what one could produce, what one could make mattered. He had restructured Schnee Dust Company once he came of age, expanded mining into the Atlas Colonies. The map on his office desk had Dust mines marked in territories where the Schnee name had never been uttered before. Wernher's inventions defined an age. Modern airships covered Vale, trains connected cities and both the Capital and Winterstown had electricity in every home. Still it didn't amount anything of his own. The grimm were still a threat, people wasted efforts on these silly wars, but it never amounted to anything. Wilhelm had to change that. When he had the power he would. Lest the dark consume them all.

"Be the light in the darkness." One of many Schnee mottos. Long ago when dust first came to man, rumor has it that the Schnee's started as hunters, or whatever hunters were back then. The grimm, the dark, they were the natural enemies of the ever ferocious snowflakes. White against black. Wilhelm liked those stories, monsters made for excellent enemies and exalted battles.

Somewhere between the darkened thoughts, tossing a single lien coin up and down, biting the moments before he left, the door to his room heard a knock, the old wood creating a far heavier sound than one might expect. Perhaps Wilhelm would have told the invader to come in, but she did not wait to hear it. The woman was familiar enough with the room and after all of Wilhelm's life she had never bother to wait for permission. The wind flushing into the hall, an ever angry Weiss stood in its frame, her beloved rapier at her side.

"Hello sister." Wilhelm didn't make any effort to question why she was here. She would answer soon enough. He was content that nothing he had done would warrant being murdered by his sister and took some level of comfort in that.

"Wilhelm...do you still really intend to leave with them into an idiot's ambush?" Weiss was blunt, but at least it was open. The autumn air felt chilled for once; maybe the storm was bringing it. Wilhelm could smell it, that wet cool rainstorm. Looked like the march was going to be a wet one.

"Yes. Fort Castle is our next big investment. Our company's future may depend on how well I can talk them down." Wilhelm tried to play it off with a smile, always with a smile. Smiles disarmed people, made them take things more easily. Weiss was not people however, and she was never disarmed.

"Wilhelm...you said this was about your position in the family." Weiss took steps from the door. Her form no longer holding the door let it seal, the air of the room normalizing again. Weiss' expression morphed a few times as she approached, anger, hurt, sadness, a lot of things traipsed across her countenance. Eventually it settled on solid serious, her hand reaching out to cup Wilhelms face. A surprisingly gentle action. This was the Weiss Wilhelm saw with Friedrich, the one that loved her family. "When I'm head of this family, you will never, never be forced to leave. You can keep your position; I'll even make one for Friedrich. Wilhelm this is your home….you're my brother."

She would never be the second child. She would never know what it was like, how it felt to know you were just an emergency backup. Weiss was his big sister, she meant what she said, and it made Wilhelm feel warm, but everyone had to pay a debt to the family, help it grow. Taking off Weiss' hand he smiled, earnest and bright, but shook his head in refusal. Weiss' arm fell slack and she took a silent step back, pulling her rapier from her belt. A thin fine blade, the rune work of force dust imprinted throughout, giving it all the more potent for stabs and slashes. A master work of Schnee craft, one of Wernher's own if Wilhelm was not mistaken.

"You'll need this. You are fighting a war now little brother." She smiled when Wilhelm took it, letting the handle rest in his hand. He was no fighter like Weiss, but he was trained and willing. Weiss was the best combat instructor he could have hoped for and after losing to her for all of his life, he figured he might be able to use a blade or two.

"If I actually do any fighting sister I have truly screwed this whole plan up," Wilhelm laughed pulling up the blade to be examined more thoroughly. It was shockingly light; a tool to kill that was as easily wielded as a toothpick. Not as impressive as Weiss' larger estoc, but the best weapon Wilhelm could have. All it had to do now was magic and the businessman was convinced he could rule the world. Funny thought. "I have to go soon, tell Friedrich his brother loves him, and the Roses. I know you don't like them, but Friedrich needs friends his age, and Qrow is doing good work. Remind him to look into the royalists, I have a feeling they might be behind the murder." This was really it. Finally he felt like he could go.

"Not this again, the faunus killed him!" Weiss argued convinced by the arrow and Nimh's testimony. Nimh was no liar, but why would they? She had to be mistaken. Everything had a why, and someone needed Schnee boots on the ground, someone needed Schnee blood. Who else, but the royalists?

"If I'm wrong well, I may die so let's hope you aren't." Wilhelm was now struggling finding things not to take, money and dust, his files and evidence. Idiot should have been packing. He was almost excited, a little boy playing at war inside him.

"Wait Wilhelm….you won't need to pack. All necessities have already been brought up to the ship." Wilhelm stopped moving for a moment, heart pounding like the sound of a war drum. His life might not be in nearly the amount of peril as he thought. The impossibly perfect mention of a ship. The only ships Schnee paid for traced the sky like birds. Airships. "You'll have three, including our biggest two, The Brothers Grimm. Stay off the ground, otherwise you'll end up dead. I won't bury my little brother; you're supposed to bury me."

Wilhelm didn't need to say anything else. He thought about asking her how she managed to get control of the ships, but it was her. How she would explain it to father, but it was her. He was content with that, the only words necessary a hushed, "Thank you Weiss."

"Good bye little brother."

"Don't say goodbye, Goodbyes are bad luck. I don't need bad luck when storms are outside."

The storms were coming, rain and rot and smoke and fire. All the curses of a nice autumn war. Storms were coming and so was Wilhelm. He was always lucky, he knew that, so why not roll the dice? He could be a hero, but if not at least it would make a good story to tell the future Schnee children. Always better to die a romantic.

***** This was absolutely a hard chapter to get write. Still not perfect, but I'm not missing another day! Again after the emotional intensity of the last chapter writing for the cynical if endlessly chipper Wilhelm is hard. Let me know what you think and say thank you to TCR for the edits! Also remember reviews help so much!  
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****Edit as of June 25. I'll be in an interview hosted by ff's own codyknight. Apparently there is a fan questions can be submitted on /r/Reiss/ if you're interested. Have a great night!****


	11. Chapter 11: Hate Is As Good As Courage

**Chapter 11: Hate Is As Good As Courage**

**Azura Thrym, The Big Bad Wolf**

All of autumn built up into one storm, the rainy season coming down with the cruelest sort of vengeance. The thunder clap sprang forth clouds from every direction, most black and vile things Azura had ever seen. It was day, but not a soul could tell, the sable miasma above them blocked out any sprinkling of sunshine that might have found its way to the flow. Instead the sky just glowed a sick grey. The cold was crueler than ever now, and soaked in those harrowing little drops, the ones that just dripped into every crevice in Azura's armor, she could feel it all the more potent. Even now hidden by an overhead canopy of rainproof cloth before a small fire that illuminated all the tent guests and a map covered in chess pieces surrounded by friends, even now it was fucking cold.

"Charles, say something," Azura whispered lightly, hoping the torrents outside might mask it to all besides the boy to her right. Charles Lord of Fort Castle and leader of the resistance stood deathly silent, hands clutching the table so hard the wood would warp with one ounce of further pressure. Still no matter how hard he stared, the white pieces on the board never decreased, the condition of the map remained identical, and the scattered black pieces found no way to make up the insurmountable odds. The battle wasn't going to win itself. Charles was a master of making the enemy choke to death over time, but with how many were coming, would it be that they had enough hands to do so.

"We can't hold this position, we have to abandon it," Whatever patience for Charles' momentary madness was draining, though the Simian prince was the first to voice it. Fire was coming, the Taurus spies claimed and scouts confirmed. It was a stifling army of men and women from Vale to Mistral armed to the very bone and primed to rip little Charles form his new toy castle. Azura would have been afraid if she had the luxury. She didn't have it, Charles in his black leather and coated in daggers saw his wolf shutter, then this would turn into the real god damn nightmare it was.

"Ohh and what boy, give up the damn Castle! We can't just prance around the forest in our numbers, can't feed the army without the stockpiles here. We run an' we die tired." Murray was just as right as the young Faunus prince. This place was impossible to keep against a threat like this, but leaving was just as mad. Azura was no tactical theorist and she could see that. Anyone looking at the map could see it. Charles included. The way the man looked in it Azura thought he was hoping it would shout the future at him. The huntress saw only what was always true to her, that they needed to fight.

"Charles, I think we best consider the Simian child's suggestion. The odds are brave, but foolish. We must pull our forces away, and quickly. We have no idea when they plan on arriving," the Taurus added with her own poison words looking over to Azura when she grimaced. She hoped it was an ugly sight, best for that masked witch to look another way. She was right. Lagune was here a day earlier and no one was sure when he would arrive. They had to assume the worst, perhaps even tonight.

"And what are you going to do about us? A lord who can't even keep his own Castle won't win any wars. You have a responsibility here now." The Lady of Fort Castle wasn't the strongest, she didn't have the ability or the constitution to fight, not like Azura or the Taurus, but she was political in a powerful way. She quickly implanted herself in the social Faunus elite circles and found herself welcome. Despite what the woman had done, the laws she passed, no one was above finding her strangely enjoyable. The huntress had to remind herself often that she hated that woman lest she adore her.

"Please all of you give me a moment!" Charles quaked as he shouted, but his authority was not entirely melted away. The rain was the only noise for a brief moment; though Azura knew a tent filled with this many people silence was a fleeting dream at best. "Pan, please get me water, I need something to drink." At least it wasn't alcohol.

Charles stood himself up, looking over the map, the drops starting to drip through the cloth above. Didn't matter, the camp pavilion meant a walk outside, everyone was soaked and before the day was over more filth was coming. Pan, the sweet little thing, brought Charles his drink, never bothering to look at her or anyone one else. He chugged it down, wishing it was some sort of inebriating elixir Azura could bet. "Azura, what does a grimm do when it's cornered and can't beat its hunter?" Charles asked hands rearranging the pieces closer, five long lines of white chess pieces packed along the only road to and fore of this wretched corner of Vale.

"Depends on the creature," Azura answered honestly, not knowing really what Charles was getting on about. "but most of them bite, for sure." That gave him pause, hands trembling as he put the pieces along the map in that snake like pattern. Without much explaining, the black heavy pieces, rooks all to the bottom, bishops lining the center and knights at the white mass. The pieces were few, only a single line unlike the human five, but traced the line of white pawns up the path, hugging the forest just outside of the muddy remnants of the summer stream next to the road.

"The top jaw of any animal is all about holding the prey in play. When I hunted, we'd get the occasional small beowulf, the top jaw had the longest teeth," Charles began to explain, his rationale obvious to Azura, but not so clear to the others. She didn't think he would take the bite so literally, but this was funny. He was going to ambush the would-be ambushers. "The heaviest of our Faunus, Leo at the bottom, Canis at the center, Taurus with guides at the back to hit the enemy rear. One thin line with thick little teeth." He put an extra piece, four down the line, the teeth. "Murray's best will take the lower tooth, Azura and her tribe the center. The Taurus and her cavalry will hit the rear, and her son will command the Taurus infantry in the tooth before that."

"Haha, one small line against five, I like these odds. Charlie, I think I know what you intend to do with this, but how will we catch them off guard? Won't they be ready for us?" Murray asked taking the positive, but critical angle. This plan put him right in danger; of course the drunken fool would love it. A real fight though, it was an intoxicating idea. Better than sitting around in the mud waiting to die.

"We'll have the night on our side. For this battle no torches, no rifles either until we can start hitting them," Charles clarified, reorganizing the White ranks. He knocked down a whole line of white pawns, and reorganized the center. Now the White king piece took the right hand ridge on the road with what bishops, whatever that meant to Charles, onto the ridge with it.

"Why would this be at night? We don't even know when he'll attack!" the Simian prince pushed forth more complaint, his blonde hair, fresh and youthful, little arrogant prick. Azura might have been only a few years older than him, but she already didn't like the kid.

"Only makes sense. The army is on a force march, attacking with an exhausted army only makes sense if he wants to ambush us, and if he wants do that with a bigger force he will try to use the night, tonight to be exact. He thinks that'll catch us off guard, I bet he plans on taking Fort Castle by dawn," for the first time in this stormy nightmare it was Amarilla talking, her own eyes seeing exactly what Charles was in the moment. Secrets in the map.

"And why would the night matter anyways?" The Simian prince asked a fair question to a Faunus, but not a sensible one to a human and a few of the more eyesight limited species. Enough to earn a baffled look from the humans and Taurus present.

"Humans are nearly blind at night. If it was a human army I was up against, I'd do exactly what he is doing now. General Lagune grew up in the capitol; all of the Faunus there were rounded up years ago. He probably never met one that he wasn't trying to kill." Charles didn't even bother looking at him, more interested in that map, what the next plan was. He began to cut little marks in the chess army, carving the four left over lines into smaller, tighter subdivisions. "We'll need more teeth to divide the lines, if we are ambushing, we get to choose the site if we move quickly enough. Fire balls won't work in this rain, but fire dust will. Layer the road with it between the teeth and you'll disorient the force even more." A single fire shot might ignite a lot of flame dust if it could catch, once it did the rain wouldn't put it out, the bloody stuff burned no matter what till there was no dust left to burn.

"Even then Charles, we could break through one line in the surprise, maybe even two in a pitched fight, but we would be outnumbered, crushed and as your diagram shows, they would take the high ground." That was true, the darkness would blur the numbers, make it seem like the Faunus never ended when really they were stretched thin as string, hiding everything in the dark, but that would work only for a small while, they were still nearly outnumbered three to one by the most generous reports.

"Yes, exactly, all the command and artillery will take the ridge." And this was the centerpiece of the plan. Cut off from the main force all the best bits of the enemy army would pull themselves up the small ridge, same one Charles used to ambush caravans. Lining up the black pawns to make an equally thin black line in the forest beyond the ridge sealed the deal. It was two ambushes, one right after the other. "The top jaw of any animal has the biggest teeth, and the largest mass, but in any bite it's the lower jaw that applies the force. All the lightest of our fighters, Simians, Lepus and Felis will attack here. Unaware the command will fall apart, and their heaviest firepower will be ours. We can drop down the ridge and strike another ambush. We might be outnumbered, but we will have managed to completely surround them. They will surrender then, thinking we have more fighting forces than we ever had. Just one big wolf's bite." Charles now replaced those pieces of the board with black pieces, all the big funs theirs now. The White snake completely submerged in an outline of black that, though thin, consumed it.

"What about the Schnee Airships?" The Taurus questioned again, the big thing Azura couldn't parse out herself. In each little subdivision of the human chess pieces, there was the queen, demarking the flying fortresses. "Charles, they will destroy us." Azura had never fought an airship before, but she had killed nevermores, all it took was enough firepower.

"I don't know, the artillery might have something to fight them, or they might have to fly low to hit us in the trees. I don't know. This is literally all I can think of." Azura didn't have a plan, but neither did Charles. Still this far, this far could work. Taking out the ships could be something else. A fun little surprise in the soon to be muddy filthy blood bath.

"You heard him. Everyone move, we have no idea what time tonight they'll come. So get the hell going!" Azura had no want for complaints, no more need for questions. Charles was shaking, his facade of security failing already, the rain pouring and the time melting away. This needed to be done now, now or not at all. No questions no nothing. Murray left with a shout, red blooded Leo hungry for a real victory. The Simian seemed to buy the confidence that Charles pretended to have and went off gathering all he could. Other chiefs did the same, the tent near empty save for Charles, the White Bull, and the one faction left out of the plan.

"What about us Charles?" The Lady asked, stern, sweetly, but concerned. Charles had left the human force, as small as it was, completely out of the battle. A noted oversight that left a grimace on Amarilla's expression.

"Just guard Fort Castle proper, and leave us an escape route. It might be needed," Charles answered offhandedly, reaching his limit for these sorts of questions. Azura couldn't blame him. The knights were fine fighters, but humans had no stake in the Faunus Rights Revolution. No stake that was any good at least. Azura didn't want a plan that found the knights anything close to a linchpin in it. Untested and untrustworthy.

"On my honor as a knight I should fight in the —"

"Knights are dead, you're a rare breed, but most of them if they knew the plan would sell us out. Please, just do as I say and you'll earn my trust." Charles didn't shout, didn't need to. Those words cut so deep into Amarilla's skin, Azura could see her blood as red as if it was a razor. A breed of dead warriors, nothing hates being reminded of their own extinction than warriors.

"Yes…my lord," her only word's before departing with the Lady. She didn't complain, but in the step, in her voice there was a sense of bitter betrayal. Azura would watch them, watch them both. They had left Charles in a bit of a mess, hands clutching the desk for meager support, ears down in defeat, strands of hair stuck to his face from the rain.

"You make friends so well," Azura joked, hoping to ease him. She had the back of her mind thinking on the battle though, who to trust to what task. What weapons to tell her tribe to bring, what they could do to better traverse on the muddy bank between the forest and the roads. There would be some scouts, plenty with radios; they needed to be removed to. This was going to be a bloody long affair.

"Shut up," Charles countered, not with much creativity.

"You're also getting better at pretending you're not scared of your own shadow. Did your wife instill you with this courage? Was sleeping with her that terrifying?" Azura continued to joke, mostly absent mindedly. He was not usually offended, even put at ease by her heckling. She thought maybe reminding him of the recent nights he likely enjoyed in that tower bedroom might...solidify what courage he had. Charles would need to lead the rigid assault. Needed to be courageous.

"Shut up!" It only made him angrier though, more defensive and lost. He was changing under pressure, not always for the better.

"Oh Charles, don't you fret, I'm just teasing you to ease the moment, you're alright." Azure went to move close, to touch him under the rain canopy, to bring him back to the living world, remind him that a friend as old as his life was with him, but coming close Azura became aware of one guest that had not left. White masked witch was there, waiting and watching. Strangely silent and patient in a way that only made Azura angrier.

"Charles, may I speak to you?" She asked once Charles looked up, brought back to this world by something a little more sinister. If she meant to speak alone she could shove it. Azura had no intentions of letting the white witch within twenty feet if she wasn't watching. Anything that wore grimm bones was just as evil as the grimm.

"You are now aren't you?" Azura answered for Charles, not letting him have the chance.

"Charles, this plan is...quaint, but let's be realistic. Abandon the castle, let them have it and we can fight this war in the trees like you did it before. We'll have them pinned and then bleed them slowly. It's the best option in this fight. Don't let your hostages convince you otherwise," she spoke well and politely, never about a somber whisper. It was still treachery, no matter how sweet smelling. Charles said nothing, gave not even a nod, but his ears twitched. They heard. "I'll ready my soldiers, but think on this, call for me if you reserve your decision." Seed planted the Taurus walked away near as silently as she did anything else. She was not the type to argue, only plant ideas and clarify things.

"Azura….I don't want to do this, I don't want to die out there. We can't win…" Azura was beside herself for a moment, unable to think that Charles would even listen for a moment to that. After how far they came, all the dice rolls they made. No, all choices were made, no running. She was going to make sure of it, no matter what.

"Shush child," Azura started moving close, her mass reaching out for him. It had been a long time, but she held him. It was easy; he was so small compared to her. The two of them always were. Little Felis that would break at the touch. She pulled him close though, metal may have been cold, but it would still be warmer than being alone in that troubled mind.

"I'm sorry Charles, you're a smart man, the plan will work. What I'm about to say will hurt… a lot." She couldn't let him run. The words she never thought she would ever say came like a hushed cruel whisper from her lips. She invoked the one feeling she refused to acknowledge in her. For the first time ever, Azura let herself blame Charles for the biggest cruelty. "We have to do this. I know you're a coward Charles, but I won't let it kill you. I've lost enough people to your fear already….I'll kill you myself if you try to run from this. If nothing else hate them all. I don't care what you need to do. You're not running." Hate is as good as courage, so let him hate them, and himself. Let Lucia be a ghost no longer the person she was, a girl defined only by a crime and painful memories. Hate them all for her, hate them because she was so much more once, and she wasn't even allowed to be a sweet Felis whom they both competed for. Hate them all for warping her into a bad memory filled with guilt when it should have been love. Hate them for defining a perfect being by a crime, for hurting her so bad she had to hang herself just to make it stop. Above all, Azura wished, hate them all more than you fear them.

"Azura….I…"

"Shush child. It's time to pretend you're brave."

* * *

><p>Cold, wet, feet submerged in a thick mucus of mud, breathing hushed under the sound of the torrent above. Hundreds of Canis, all hunched low with pikes, swords, and bows, ready for the blooding that was about to come surrounded her both left and rights. Azura herself stood at the center, her arms and armor of her family on, the large zweihander passed down to her from her mother in the right, massive tower shield of dust infused steel latched to her left. She had her teeth if these failed of course and the army behind here. In front was a patch of forest, thick with scouts that needed to be bloodied quick before the time was ready. All they needed was the signal.<p>

Beyond that mass of scouts was the army; Azura could see the glimmer of lights beyond the forest, her vision honed in on the minutest of illumination. Even with her natural advantage it was dark. No moonlight could cross through the clouds tonight; nothing of the sunlight was left deep into the evening. The only light was the scouts marching their way through the forest and that clap of lightening up above sending a wave of light revealing the mass of trees, the shape of their forms looming over them and the enemy mass. Humans needed light, they feared the dark. Azura was going to make damn sure that fear never went away. Soon the dark would consume them.

The quick steps through mud could be heard just barely behind them almost like the sounds of raindrops from below. It was a young Lepus girl, hair a long tied back behind her rabbit ears, order letters all in her bag seeming about to burst. A messenger. The girl slid down to Azura, her voice raked with exhaustion and expression fearful, though Azura could not blame a rabbit for being scared of a wolf. "It's time advance please miss," she whispered voice cracked with worry. Cute little thing, now Azura had to win this bloody war. Had to get her name after all.

"You heard her boys and girls, let's hunt some humans today. Remember not one gun shot, kill all the radio men, and if I see one person run I'll fucking cut them down like a bleeding lamb. Move!" The messenger ran off quickly tapping every captain down the line with the same thing, springing to life this mass of Faunus, a black shadow through the woods. They kept to the line and like a terrible wave swept over the first few scouts they found. Azura never claimed to be the first one to spill blood that day that would be preposterous, an arrow stuck some radio operator in the throat seconds in. A spear wielding Canis took down some horse with white and red stripes with the rider along with it. All long before Azura struck a single blow.

Wasn't long though till Azura smelled blood on her. The dark and rain did a good job of caking her only lightly in mud, but that smell of some young mercenary's red blood was a stench she knew would stay for a bit. It was easy enough, to say she regretted it was nothing but a lie. The smell of a battle was noxious though, even while the fight made it intoxicating. Thankfully the rain lessened the smell, and the sounds, as Azura cleaved open some nameless scout, the metal of his armor warping at the force of her blade. Azura could hear the song of swords to her left and right now, though dampened by the downpour and thunder. It was a wonderful sound, she wasn't going to lie. Taking another step in the mud, another step toward some soldier running from a wolf, the black beast in Azura smiled.

Another cut down and another after that. The scouts all fell without little effort, but just beyond the forest edge a small force clashed with hers, a woman with a spear charged for Azura's throat, finding only the bitter bite of a sword instead. Another rifleman aimed his gun for her, but the arrow fell him. In all the fighting one man, muscled and covered in runes, ran with axe in hand towards the forests end. The animal in Azura as well as the woman needed him dead. He weaved through the arrows, nimble footed and fast. Bastard would ruin everything. Azura charged forth, running down a mounted lancer as she did. The space between them, mud and trees, was too great for any normal woman, but Azura was a huntress, normal was not in her blood. The fire of her semblance started again, her vision turning red and heart pounding with more fury than the storm above.

Azura became more wolf than woman, charging with her sword in her mouth, shield on her back, hands and feet both in need for running. The space between him and the runner closed, even as the space between her and the other Canis grew greater without her even noticing. The mud steps found an odd moment, a strange texture of rope below the falling leaves and surface filth. She was woman enough to know the snare. Idiot.

"When I heard of the big bad wolf, I was hoping for a bigger pelt!" The snare caught, Azura's arms snapped away by two soldiers holding the other sides of the roped snares. She could pull any human down easily, but they were smart, grasping onto trees for support. "I expected guerillas to come harass us, but this is a bloody ambush ehh? And they send a big wolf to hit us." The man who spoke was heft, huge even. Body covered in blue runes common in the rural Vale. His aura was strong now, the sign of hunter, facial hair rugged and smile hungry. He was just the same kind of hunter she was, the ones who enjoyed it. He had an axe, silver with runes of heavy dust, a familiar sight, the hunter was famous, to think he turned soldier. The Woodsman he was called. A loner Azura had respected, now prepared to carve her up bloody. 'Damn it, damn it all, damn them all!'

He had no other words, the smile was enough. Axe raised he intended to kill her now with nothing flashy, no speeches or glorification. Just axe to the head like some fucking caged animal. This was bloody horrible. This wasn't right this wasn't now, no, no, no it was their turn to die. Azura Thrym was not going to be bled here like a fucking animal. With every step he took the rage in her grew more potent, eyes warping into amber as that same semblance. Something the hunter could see having knocked off her helm unceremoniously. Though her eyes were turning amber her vision felt red. _'Take another step, one more step and I'll eat you alive,'_ Azura thought to herself as he approached with the axe swinging down. She turned all of personhood over to the animal that was her semblance. The rage of a trapped animal vibrant in her eyes.

Azura made good on her word. He swung down and pulling the ropes to near breaking tension as she clamped down her mouth on the man's wrist, her deformed fang teeth engulfing the wrist fully. The look on his face, Azura could think of nothing that could be sweeter, the horror and surprise. Bloody executioner went to disembowel the big bad wolf, now he was going to pay. The wrist made a snapping noise, the bone fracturing as she bit, the copper of blood flooding her mouth. He would have screamed if he wasn't shocked. Blood lust in full swing she pulled him by the wrist over her shoulder, tangling and snapping the thick snare rope.

What happened next was blurry in Azura's mind, she knew that it ended with both of them covered in his blood, her iron gauntlets were wrapped around the hunter's throat, his body quaking as it was smeared in mud and leaves. His mouth was full of mud, blood coming from missing teeth where Azura had struck him again. Something in him finally snapped apart and Azura let go, her warriors arriving to find her straddling a corpse to choke the life out of it. That was the wolf inside her. Powerful semblance though it drained her. Couldn't do it this time, the moment needed energy. Behind her was the forest's edge, a large river bed now reduced to the thickest mud and beyond that was an army of lamps, torches, machines, and killers. Azura shuttered to turn around, picking up her arms and armor while she did it. Her helm that was knocked away returned to her head and she spit out the hunters blood. The real ambush was primed.

No one dared to say anything. White chess pieces could not replicate what she saw outside the forest where the shadows stopped. It was bigger than she hoped yet smaller then she feared, but not nearly small enough. They walked in perfect lines, trucks and spider tanks down the center line. Above them all the sky was black, black as the abyss even with night vision, but once in a while a bolt would carve a jagged path through the sky and you could see. Flying low out of the clouds lifted by balloons with snowflake crests and armed with heavy cannons, the queen pieces in this prince's army. The Schnee Airships. The tree line was soundless, her own Faunus people either too shocked or too professional to make a noise. The Leo and Taurus hopefully made just as much progress, though she could not hope to see them in the darkness. There would be no sweet Lepus girls to give the word now, better after all Azura would win no beauty competitions covered in mud and spitting out a man's blood. The signal was this time flares, flares right into the fire lines. Once that struck, they would charge into the first line of riflemen and infantry that was forced to walk through the muddy stream. No heavy fighters, cavalry or tanks. They would crumble easily into the dirt without even preparing for a shot. Second line would be harder, spider tanks and other rifles, now ready for them.

"Run them all down, every one of them. Stop for nothing, and never let your shields down. If you run, you and yours will find themselves in chains. Fight and Charles will come. With me Canis?" Azura, but whispered and no one answered, but they were. She knew it. This was her people after all. Azura thought of Lucia now, sweet girl. Keep that memory close and let it build hate, hate for the killers and thieves. Azura had no real courage either, just plenty of hate and a blood lust. Charles wasn't the only coward getting on. He pretended and she hated. 'So let the signal off', Azura silently prayed, 'let's burn them, all them burn in a great big beautiful bloody blaze!'

The flare's fired; the dust lit. Perfect lines of fire erupted around the enemy lines, the first teeth to sink their fangs into this human army. Blood lust triggered, eyes still amber and hungry, the semblance pumping, she was jealous of the flame as the rain made it smoky and dark. They charged, but with no battle cries, the panicked army was busy trying to put out the blaze, and even if the officers could smell an ambush, the soldiers were mindless scared sheep. The first line barely noticed the black mass that approached them. Some shots were fired by the more sensible, the only light that ever touched the ambushing army, streams of purple, blue, red, and white that smashed bounced off shields and landed in the dirt. It must have frightened them more to see the blood covered shields and weapons rushing them, a wolf covered in mud like the forest itself was coming.

The first line was shattered; Azura's own blade cleaved a few down, shield bashing more to follow. The count was blurred and her own people did far more than her. The rest ran, ran right into their comrades, knocking each other down, being crushed in the mud by the stampeding enemies. Azura could see in the distance between the shadows of Leo and Taurus fights doing much the same, all along the line the first opposition were destroyed. Confused the canons of the airships fired madly into the forest, spider tanks rushed to join the fray and the second line combated its own mad preparations.

Now the bloody fight was on. "Come and fight the wolf!" Azura shouted into the void, her own roar matched by a thousand more. She was laughing, actually laughing as the opposition crumbled. They could win, they would win, and the human army would taste real defeat for once. This was the most exhilarating thing in Azura's life. She felt like a million warriors could fight her and a million would be repealed. The line of rifles, the second army took aim, machined spider tanks coming up behind them and Azura was smiling.

"Kill them all brothers and sisters; let's show them what fury can do!" Azura's heart felt like it could explode, her semblance pounding harder than it ever had before, but all the same she felt immortal. More rounds, volleys of fire struck her shield, knocked many Faunus into the grave, but they kept charging, the mud giving way to rougher road when they struck. Oh how powerful she felt in that moment.

A lone Tank stood in her way, its canon blowing a pocket of her friends away. Bastards all. With fury and exhilaration Azura charged, the force infused blade swing around with all the mass the Faunus had, right into the iron leg. It crumbled and snapped, but the spider tank's underside Gatling took aim unloading round after round. Azura was unstoppable; at least she was convinced so flipping back away from the shots. Aura infused she flipped into the air, body propelled by all the energy she had and it was wonderful to almost fly through the smoke infused sky.

Speeding down blade first, the mech was her landing platform. Its robot head crushed by the heft of the blade, smoke and sparks all around her, the iron beast nothing but a heap of ruin like the rest of the second line, soon to crumble. "Now Charles!" She screamed to no one laughing. Charles needed no signal. The world seemed on fire, a mixture of smoke and flame. The artillery was on the ridge, the commander as well. There was no use for any other signal. She hoped he could see her though, an iron woman standing on the best of mankind's mechanical beasts, a ruined spider. Pouring rain coming down on her, smoking the fires, sticking her hair to her flesh, helm had come off. The rain felt wonderful, the sky crying tonight.

"Your move," She whispered, it was time to join the fray again, third line, tougher than the second was coming, and the second had yet to be truly defeated. They would lose like this, she had faith. The black cat, he could pull victory out of any hat.

***** So This was a weird chapter to write. Big battles, never done anything like that before. D: I really didn't think describing the individual killing would be interesting and just been needlessly gore without any substance to it. I prefer more dealing with Azura as a character and the in the moment feelings she's having. Hope it's not too boring?**

**I'ma start doing AV A.U. facts in each A.N. First are the Faunus tribes: each is based off the scientific names of the animal they are kin to. Leo for lions, Simian's for monkeys like Sun, Canis for wolf and dog like Faunus, Taurus for bull Faunus like Adam, Felis for cat like Faunus like Blake, and Lepus for rabbit Faunus like Velvet.**

**Next chapter is going to be the second half of the battle for Fort Caslte, and mark the start of the series coming to a close I think. This is sort of the half way mark right here so thanks so much for everyone that reads. AV has a small community which is why every one of you matters and every review matters too. Thanks TCR for the edits!**


	12. Ch12Rebellion Now and Forever Revolution

**Chapter 12: Rebellion Now and Forever Revolution**

**Charles the Lord of Fort Castle**

Steady breath, steady feet. Never too far, never too loud. Keep above, few things ever look up. These thoughts were the first lessons Azura had taught Charles and now dancing around the trees, limberly stepping from branch onto branch, those same words were the only thing keeping Charles' heartbeat soft when he could smell the smoke through the rain. The thick ashen heft to it a signal as booming as the gun shots cannons and lightning above. Shouting reverberated through the woods along with curses and panicked steps. Engines of dust trucks and rearing of horses not far from here came a bit more loudly to Charles with nary a sound behind him, the rain having muffled anything like a breath from his nimble footed companions.

To anyone else, Charles likely looked alone in the dark, but his eyes saw everything. There was a glow of light on a hundred faces hidden in the shadow of the moon on either side, even more in the deeper forest, the dark had teeth tonight. Looking to the left, a Simian woman stood even more nimbly with a short bow in hand, eyes squinting in the dark, their night vision not nearly as strong as the kind that Charles' amber eyes gave him. A soundless look to him begged the question whether to move or not. Charles had the best eyes, he had to move first. Even in the dark it can be a scary thing to move, and to move first especially.

But one has to move, it's not an option, no one really gets to decide before the moment they move, not when they can hear people fighting, dying. Not when those people were friends, family, and love ones. Not when a hundred more eyes burrowed into the back of Charles' head, screaming and shouting their premature mourning for everyone that wasn't going to walk away. The lights were on, stage set, audience in their seats and a hero expected. The Faunus resigned himself to not having a choice, for it was simply a less scary way to make one. The pressure on, the fear growing sick in his gut, Charles gave a nod, a nod that unleashed it all.

A bolt of fervor struck everyone in the forest, though it made not a touch more of sound, the movement was there through the brush and trees. The charge was called and spread through the dark far beyond what Charles could see or hear. Most of his fighters moved through the tree line, most Faunus around him gifted climbers. Moving above the muddy dirt below gave them an edge, made them even more soundless and masked in the dark.

At first, there was nothing, though with each tree they passed more rustling, movement and creaks could be heard, the forest eating what human scouts there had been up this cliff. Charles saw a man full of arrows long before he saw any alive, the poor guy bouncing on his striped horse reduced to nothing more than a weight on the back of an animal's spine. Someone was quick to put the beast down, the thud as it landed the loudest sound to cut its way through the dark when the noises from both the sky and battle outweighed everything else.

Soon even that gave way to new sounds and sights. Hurried lamps running around blurring Charles' night vision slightly making the men and women attached to them turn into almost phantoms in a panicked scurry. They shouted confused, but as the troop neared what was to be the cliff side there was more noise to overpower it. It was in this motion that Charles killed his first opponent, a woman whom was just a ghastly image of armor with some sort of sword and rifle mix. Keeping his breath steady, hands still while his mind pounded, Charles notched his arrow and pulled back, his wooden simple hunting bow. Nothing special or ornate in it, no dust or runes carved into the wood, just a bit of warping from use and a solid string. It was enough. Breathing out as he let go, Charles' arrow struck the human wrath in her heart. It was the quickest death an arrow made of nevermore feathers could manage.

As the scout dropped, Charles moved forward. Each person following, firing into targets of their own. Soon the sounds of dropping forms, and the lights of scattered lamps would give them away, so the steps became quicker, cutting between trees and limbs, jumping between branches. Now these shadows and ghosts of people were beginning to look up into the trees and rain, but arrows fell them long before any alarm could go off. No one was expecting this, this the most simple of strategies. To think an army in such a hurry to ambush would be so easy to do the same. Charles for a moment allowed himself some breath, not to panic and believe in his own false legend.

That comfort melted away as soon as he could see through the trees into the blaze of his own creation, just a shot away from the tree line, fire, so much fire. It burned lines into the earth smoke bellowing from its rising heat, the downpour not able to stop flame dust when it burned into the soil. Above the smoke, the airships flew too low, they tried as they could to escape the storm above, bolts of lightning tracing around them, active in favor of Charles' cause. The white and blue of Schnee, the massive snowflake crest pressed onto the balloon of those flying machines. It was enough to stop the Faunus and give him plenty of pause. Even more when the cannons aboard erupted into the field below. The bolts of explosive ice, fire, and electricity shattered the forest trees when those Schnee cannons firing mercilessly at the darkness around him. Still the hidden Faunus came, they seemed so many, even to Charles who knew it was only a handful, but blurred by light, smoke, rain, and sound, the forces of Canis and Leo he could see from atop the trees was seemingly as endless as the forest they poured out from. The illusion was working.

Murray could be seen from there, the man bashing his way into a line of rifles, the third formation from what bodies lie in the mud. Another Canis woman was spearing another soldier in the chest, though some human with semblance of some sort cut her down at shocking speeds. Taurus were visible too, a rider with one of those curved swords cut down gunmen as he passed, though the rifles took out many approaching from the dark. No matter how hard they fought the army was all cannon fodder, all just lives thrown away if Charles didn't move. The prize was still out in the open.

Just as Charles had planned, hoped, and worked for, General Lagune's banners and artillery were all pulled onto the cliffs that ran along the main road, a small tactical advantage that anyone with any sense would take at the smallest sign of trouble, but it was dangerous in its obviousness. Without any parameter those gallant Valen knights and royal guards, though strong and armed with all manner of destructive instruments and heavy artillery, were alone, stranded on the Cliffside with all the most important equipment. What scouts and guards should have been there were all punctured and dying now.

Hands shaking Charles signaled twice, switching the call from silent to loud. A massive roar, a hundred voices melded into a single wolves howl called from the deep of the forest. Many turned to look into the abyssal cry, they saw only arrows and crossbow bolts a volley of black feathered death into metal frames and bodies. Panic broke some, others simply fell dead, more tried to turn back to fire, but from the trees the Faunus came down hard. Simians with spears and staffs rushed out into the light faster than the riflemen could fire. Charles himself kept firing from the dark, making himself seen only to his own men. The most important piece in this puzzle was yet to be found. Something he couldn't trust anyone but himself to do right. General Lagune needed to be captured, preferably alive.

Moving unfettered by fear, an invisible cat in a sea of shouting warriors, he ran through the newly set up tents and artillery pieces as soldiers fought around him. Fire had already begun to spread through the royal camp, the ash and watery smoke making Charles' eyes itch, his beating chest loud and intense. It was getting harder to breath, harder to move as he approached the center camp of the royal army. One soldier went after him was removed quickly with a flick of a dagger, another by someone's spear, who Charles couldn't even make out. Finally at the center of the flames, where the most banners and equipment was, the General stood ambushed on all sides, but backed by the best. He stood in black and blue plate, the color of his name sake. Charles wouldn't have recognized him if it wasn't of the royal crest carved into the armor and the way everyone surrounded him. In his hands was the oddest pair of swords he had ever seen, one was attached to some sort of handgun, though Charles had never seen something like it yet.

Charles was not a warrior, not some knight or gifted paragon of justice. A semblance reflexes the owner, least that's what Azura once suggested. Charles had a coward's semblance, he could never win a fair fight, so never fight fair. His own shadows came alive, their forms gaseous yet solid and without feeling. Without shadows he was powerless, but the fire provided many. Raising these clones Charles let them strike out with dagger in hand. The others saw this at once, firing into the shadow and dispelling it. Charles unleashed the other with a bow knocking out one of the royal riflemen while the original Faunus slid into another position, more shadows taking the fallen ones place.

Two more clones dove into combat, two more guards died with them, their shadow weapons just as real as the original. Again and again Charles ran himself around the camp flames, letting more shadows do the fighting and dying while he hid and shifted positions, every clone another knife from another direction. So long as his Aura held, Charles was a million mediocre fighters in one. No one could outnumber him so long as he waited them out. Quickly it was just the prince and a drained Charles hidden from the fight, the royal guard dispatched by the shadows around him. Heart beating, it was time for the final parlor trick.

A shadow, one of the last Charles had the aura to make, bust through in a charge, shifted to the left deliberately. The would-be-prince swung and missed with the left blade, but as the shadow stepped passed him. Lagune turned his back to Charles stabbing into the darkness. Turning one's back to a black cat, no matter how weak is a fool's idea. Or maybe he was the fool.

Chest screaming, beating with all the fear Charles ever felt in one moment, he went for it, daggers out ready to take out the shoulder blades, but that strange blade shifted, the form of a pick attached to a chain, the strange gun firing a bolt of fire. A propellant. Swinging around in a vortex motion, Charles couldn't completely avoid it, the sickle nicking him above the eye and knocking him to the ground. A mixture of blood mud and water coated him now, unfortunately mostly his blood from the new wound. The General gave him not a moment before spinning that sickle around dropping it down.

Charles kicked back to his feet narrowly missing the steel edge of that device, it spun again and again Charles dove into the mud to avoid it. The Faunus had nary a moment to wipe his face before the sickle came again and again, a vortex of steel and chain. Backing away the sickle caught Charles in the shoulder, not too deep, but the pain. It burned. Something else burned with it as the Faunus kicked himself back the blood trickling down his leather sleeves. 'No.' It screamed, 'No I don't want to die. I refuse to die.' The coward in him, raging against the dying light.

"I'm not dying. Surrender," Charles spoke softly, barely reaching the general over the flames. Lagune just smirked spinning the sickle around again, its point going straight for Charles. He could see it glimmering bright in the night that point. Charles had no option, cowards became devils when that happened. Fast as he could gambling he pulled the longest dagger he had, barely half the length of the sickle. Ducking he let all the weight of the sickle and chain wrap around the bladed dagger a twisted mess locked to the weapon, barely holding on. Before the general could think Charles turned and with all his strength embedded the blade into the wood and metal of some rubble.

Try and try again, the chain wouldn't come loose, the dagger caught. Charles went for it, full run at the general. Dashing with all his weight and took a dive into the mud. It wasn't for General Lagune, it was for the chain he dropped in favor of the second blade, the chain connected to a sickle that Charles' shadow unhooked, the chain which he pulled sliding out from right under General Lagune. Sickle freed the edge struck Lagune in the leg, blood and mud spraying the air as he fell into the dirt. The pick reached Charles' hand shifting quickly into a sword. The Faunus didn't waste time with speeches or mumbled words. This was a fight, and a fight is always bloody. He jumped on Lagune, smacking away the would-be-prince's sword and stabbing the commandeered weapon into the leader's shoulder.

Lagune shouted and cursed, but nothing stopped Charles in the slightest. Fist free he beat the prince bloody. Didn't kill him, but once Charles calmed down, all around him his fighters stood silent, looking down at him and the defeated prince.

"Charles… He's out… We need to take care of the Airships!" Charles looked down at his hands, they were muddy, or bloody. Maybe both, but mostly they just shook. He wasn't scared though, and while his body ached, head screamed and back burned, he felt invincible. He could kill them all.

"Okay, we…uh we can com-co-commandeer it." Charles could feel that twitchy stutter in him. His nerves were shot, Aura near drained, perfect time to steal a Schnee Airship. In the lightning above they flew so low, the largest of them all at the center, that damn snowflake crest on its balloon, smaller ones so closely keeping near. It rained down cannon fire and death, ropes let bellow to pick up soldiers as the Faunus cut down the army it encircled. This was last piece, the last thing in the way of true Faunus victory. Charles was going to smite these invaders from their skies.

"How?" one Simian woman asked, her face burnt slightly from fire dust though her blonde hair seemed only slightly singed. She was in rags, but still able. Strong Faunus whoever she was. Charles looked down at his new weapon, letting it shift back into a sickle, the chain was so long and the trees so high. In these rains a bird has to fly slowly, and when it does, the limbs can be caught in the trees.

"Get the rope hooks for climbing. I have my own. We take the big one." This was it for human supremacy. They would tear the ships from the skies, they had the prince, and they had the army. It was their time to lose everything. The Faunus rebellion now and forever; revolution.

* * *

><p><strong>Wilhelm Schnee the Ice Prince<strong>

Wilhelm had read much about war, its atrocities, inequities, brutality and futility. The senselessness never seems apparent no matter how many times one says it without seeing. It's not the senselessness in the manner of a dispute, nor in the sense of lack in utility. It is in the visual affirmation of bloodshed that shows a disconnect Wilhelm had never seen before. How foolish it was to throw thousands at each other in theoretical debates of mortality and property when none who did the sacrificing will ever reap the benefit. Watching the thousands below struggle in thick mucus of soil, blood, and rain. Expensive equipment ruined in fire, people on fire, workers on fire, the whole of the world ablaze and Wilhelm stood centered above it all, his ships firing silently into the woods, merely gesturing support for Lagune who had foolishly done the one thing Wilhelm had warned him not to. March on cliffs. Lead from the airship, Wilhelm had pleaded, but no. The brave General Lagune had much to prove and from the fires in his camp Wilhelm wagered no time left to prove it. This had all gone backwards, Wilhelm had hoped for a gunless siege to make terms and negotiate, foolish, but hope was for the young and Wilhelm was still rather young.

"We must pick up the General. Master Wilhelm, please give the order and we'll fly low and pick him up," Captain Bely pleaded. She was a zealous woman, and Wilhelm appreciated that, if a little too much for his pacifistic taste. It was beyond pointless to save him now. The Faunus were pouring over the ridge taking the back line from behind, an ambush on top of an ambush. They had encircled an army twice the size if not more than theirs. If Wilhelm wasn't their enemy he would be earnestly impressed by their versatility in combat.

"Too late, he's dead. Fly low and keep the gunships from letting any sort of enemy in the trees hit us. We need to pick up everyone we can from the center line and get out." Castle White would need to hear of this, before the battle radio was already out, the storm and poor reception combined made reaching Castle White now impossible. All he had heard from them today is that his father was ill, and Weiss was sure Summer was a bad influence on Friedrich. Qrow mentioned a lead in the investigation as well, but all that ended in fire. Now smoke was added to the radio interference.

They were alone in the sky, watching the carnage below. The infamous wolf huntress made short work of whatever those royal spider tanks were supposed to do, worthless things, off brand Schnee tech. He was almost happy to watch her stand visibly atop a sea of dead machines had her howl been not so heavy that it nearly tore Wilhelm's courage asunder. He wasn't even in the battle. How any normal soldier stood up to huntresses and hunters was insane. The way she blocked every strike with that rock of a shield. She was nigh immortal beast.

"Master Wilhelm, your bottom deck is requesting help. There are Faunus under the deck." Nimh, the Faunus maid whom was more an older sister than a servant to the brothers called from the bottom steps, coming up with crossbow in hand and blood on her thin armor. Wilhelm felt a bit of panic burrow inside his heart. How could they manage to skip the gunships was beyond him. The plan was danger proof, they had no means to hurt him yet here they were coating a woman of his household in blood and taking his ship. If they meant to make thieves of themselves Wilhelm would hang them as such.

"Boys and girls. I believe we are needed below. Captain you have the deck. Nimh rest up," Wilhelm's personal guard was the best of the ship, though nothing compared to the huntresses and hunters his sister consorted with. They were all knights trained to fight on the Brothers Grimm, they knew its copper and pipe filled halls, the way the tight spaces of the airship worked, the different levels of engineering marvel. This ship was one of Wernher's last finished designs, though he had first intended to be free of the center balloon, that design was unfinished, meant for a future generation. The decks were divided into five, top command deck, second barracks and living quarters, third kitchen and armory, fourth fire deck and fifth storage which would now be packed with refugees soon. If any incursion would happen it would be on the gun deck, lower than most and open to the air.

Though narrow as the stairs were it felt too long, the path to the gun deck riddled with the sounds of some poor deckhand moaning and the shouts reverberating through the metal halls. Wilhelm has no training in combat beyond Weiss' personal demands, but he had the sense to hold his sister's Rapier tight in his hands, his gloves the only separation between this grip and his fingers. As the moaning got worse Wilhelm feared for himself in equal measure. Quickly five protectors seemed like nothing but a joke. A bad one at that.

What was more frightening than an army on the deck was the prospect of one empty of anything besides a poor boy with a nevermore feather bolt in him, blood pooling on the floor and a crew of confused idiots shouting at each other over the sounds of cannon fire from the automatic cannons. Many soldiers who had fled onto the rope up to the airship now lay on the floor stung about with such gormless look of defeat. Such a pathetic thing, to survive and be so defeated. Wilhelm almost had more sympathy for them, almost as if death was a better fate to anything else.

"What's happening? I heard we were being boarded?" Wilhelm looked around the deck, open, but nothing that implicated a struggle. Just machinery and an eerie noise Wilhelm couldn't identify.

"Nothing Sir. An arrow fired from below got one of the workers on the cannons." Wilhelm became very aware of what that odd sound was, or more what it wasn't. The cannons were silent, all aside from the hum of their motors turning the turrets. Each gun meant to take down a nevermore found its way to a new target above the forest wall. It is a horrific thing to witness everything fall apart around you, know it was about to happen, and know it will regardless of what you do. Thunder clapped in the same moments those cannons did. It was in terrified silence Wilhelm watched his gunships rupture in fire and burst. Metal, rain, and fire all poured down below. Wilhelm didn't need to see the other to hear the side guns fire. All the protective ships were nothing more than a falling flame.

"Prepare to be boarded! They've taken the command deck. One of you with me the rest hold here no matter what!" There was only one way, and it was the devil's way. Wilhelm had a smile on, but he could burst with anger. The red on his face, the fury in him. It was an icy sort of hate. The one that can only come from betrayal. The Ice prince did not wait to see who would follow him. He ran up the decks knocking aside doors, people, anything that stood in his way. Rapier felt lighter than before, and the inner cool nature he had begun to melt away.

The command deck came up and his guard with him, one of the bigger men, tall and broad shouldered. Young and handsome too, someone who would catch your eye in a crowd. These were all his undoing. A bolt, nothing fancy just a black feather bolt ended him. Perfect shot to the head. Somehow that made it all the worse. Wilhelm hid behind another console; more sensible to hide then run out and die bleeding. The room around him was covered in blood, but not from any wound, there was an acidic smell in the air. A toxin released then quickly flushed out by wind, but not before it killed the crew. Such a sad pathetic way to die.

"Nimh," Wilhelm called, he did not want a reply.

"Yes." He got it. All the things he never wanted to hear. A boy, Wilhelm would have cried, but as a full Schnee adult, he wanted to slit her neck. What possessed him to stand the Ice Prince did not know, but its force brought the man to his feet standing straight in what was his command post, his ship, with his dead crew. The smile he had faded to a dead look of disgust. In the center alone, with only dead to keep her company and a loaded crossbow aimed true and deadly at Wilhelm. It was that woman, the filthy creature he let hold Friedrich and Summer, the one he trusted and grew up with. The fox he pretended was family. Mongrel.

"Nevermore bolts?" Wilhelm asked, but didn't need to. He could see it. He didn't want to see it, but they were there. After everything. How kind that man was to her, to Nimh, it was so obvious too. So apparent. It explained everything. How long she had been with them, her family had been with them. Lying deceiving Foxes.

"Nevermore bolts." It was then a decision was made. No matter how, why or when, Nimh was going to die. For murdering a good man, for murdering a scientist, for murdering his uncle. She could kill him now, but a bolt in his heart and Wilhelm was sure he would get up and kill her, put a gods damn rapier in her heart. Seemed she was going to test it. The trigger let the bolt loose, racing right towards Wilhelm, there was no dodging. No way to block it. The Ice Prince didn't have the speed or the care. He never bothered to stop it.

Something else did. A ghost of phantom, maybe some divine intervention. Whatever it was the bolt failed and the shadow disappeared with it. Wilhelm nearly laughed, would have bolted for Nimh right then if it wasn't for the knife pointed at his neck. Gods had given him a gift. Wilhelm smiled knowing how he intended to use it.

"Drop your weapon," the Faunus that held him by the throat said coolly. Wilhelm happily agreed placing his rapier on the nearest desk with a smile on his face. Nimh seemed so uncomfortable. This assassination was more of a capture now fox, much more complicated. "I'm taking this ship Schnee."

"I surrender," Wilhelm replied with a smile getting to his knees, never breaking eye contact with Nimh. Now it made sense, looking at Nimh and her black feathered arrows, he understood exactly what war was about. It could take a million knights to kill that woman, and a million knights would be sent. He would skin her alive before the end. That Wilhelm swore on all that was Schnee, all that was himself. Wealth or ruin it did not matter to him. Snow would snuff out her lungs and rub out her miserable existence. Then when that last breath left her choking body, he would find the rest of these traitors and corrupted factions within their false fighting. War made so much sense now. _'Thank you Nimh,'_ Wilhelm wanted to say, _'Thank you for everything. I figured it out; I know who you work for.'_

***** OMG I'm so late I'm sorry! D: Finals happened then I took a vacation and I'm sorry so sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was super hard to write for some reason. Happy, so happy, to be out of class though and looking to get new MV out before weekend is over I promise. Also Excited for the new episode tomorrow (written as of the 24th) wondering when I'll be made A.U. XD**

**Special thanks to TCR who rushed out to get the edits in before the episode aired, and to everyone who reads. Make sure to review and tell me what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13: Crown of Wood

**Chapter 13: Crown of Wood**

**Wilhelm Schnee the Interloper**

"King of the Faunus. What do you make of it Lagune?" It had been near a week, a cooler autumn week at that since Wilhelm had been captured. Not much happened to Wilhelm since then; he was dragged off to a less than affable cell and few visitors aside from a brute of a faunus man with a red lion mane who wanted to know why Wilhelm was here and some wolf-woman always wanting him to sign a fine sheet of paper claiming he was a well-mannered and well-kept hostage, standard action whilst holding someone of the Schnee prince's class, a document he refused again and again to sign. No one told them anything straight about the outside world however. Still there were whispers from the guards, the little notes in the papers Wilhelm scanned in their hands, most of all a brand new seal marked with a black flame in a lotus with a gold crown around it. King of the Faunus, Charles Cid.

"Shut up," Lagune groaned. He was such a spoiled companion. Ever since he came back from the hospital bed crippled on his right leg, the general did nothing but cry and whine. The battle broke him, no one respected him, least of all Wilhelm. They were both treated well enough, this cell was lined with cloth, the heater was on and books were at their disposal though Wilhelm had already read them all. Despite this as soon as Lagune was asked to sign, he did quickly thinking his life in danger. Wilhelm instead bid his time, plotting this all out, this dance between him and Nimh. He plotted revenge.

"Like King of the Valian Faunus I can buy, but King of the Faunus, all inclusive. That's a bit presumptuous don't you think?" Wilhelm replied kicking around some ornament that had made its way onto the floor from the rather dreary cobble stone walls. There were two windows, though they were completely out of reach and only let moonlight in. Chairs sure, and even a desk to ponder the time. Beds too though Lagune never moved from it. Wilhelm sought entertainment in tormenting the failed general and his own machinations.

"He's a usurper!" Legune could flail around rather liberally for a broken man.

"And you're a cripple, but seriously I think the title has a ring to it really," Wilhelm stated looking at the time, so perfectly did the sounds of steps match the time, "plus he's married to the newly named Queen of Vale so it sounds about the perfect match. What would that make their kids? Princess and prince of Vale or the Faunus? You see this is why Valian Faunus is a better title, then they can be the royal family of all Vale and it just rolls better.

"Shut up, she's a thief, a god damn thief!" Lagune shouted madly and wildly thrashing about. Wilhelm ignored him as best he could, sliding the wooden desk near the cell door, presented with an open chair on one side, and the finer chair for his side. Siting down it was just the right time. Time for the wolf to come howling.

"We have guests Lagune, be presentable."

The door lock turned, popping open with a thud, one of the guards, some lion woman and a similarly bunny fused specimen came in with pikes and claymore set. Still they were dwarfed by the wolf amongst them. The one Wilhelm was proud to know came by the name Azura, the tank slayer from before. A Huntress of unparalleled skill. Hopefully not too much skill.

"Schnee, are you going to waste my time again today," Azura asked not taking the offered seat, though she did slap the papers down on the desk with a rich and hateful thud. She was tired of his posturing and delays, but there would be none. Lord Schnee is a tasteful title.

"No, I think I'll sign your paper, even more if you'll let me. I just want one thing," Wilhelm asked, pointing the steel covered beast a seat though behind the blue tinted black hair and burning eyes it was obvious she did not give a damn about Wilhelm and his gifted seat.

"What's that?" the wolf asked, not immune to the requests of Wilhelm Schnee. No matter who you asked, the Schnees controlled the north both with their wealth and ties to the kingdom of Atlas so strong they were feared rightfully by many Kings of Vale, this King of the Faunus was in no way a different sort of enemy. He didn't want war with his family, else Charles would not have stopped that bolt, would have let it struck. They are desperate. So Azura could take her seat, wait patiently for the two to talk things out, come up with an agreement. Wilhelm had time; it was a peaceful little place after all, besides the groaning man.

"I want to meet our king."

* * *

><p>"The Simian Chief writes to say he's thankful to have his son's body returned to him and that more of his tribe intend to join us and acknowledge the assent to the throne." The shouting was loud, the voice familiar. Same lion man from before, had to be after all who else could make the world shake with such obnoxious ease. Wilhelm had been brought, just as he had expected to, the camps outside Fort Castle. The new king had taken up residence again in these dreary soaked pavilions over the rock and stone fortress people had slaughtered themselves over. There was still cheering even now, Wilhelm could hear it in the camps. <em>How long do these people need to drink and celebrate their triumph over an idiot and his toy army?<em> Perhaps that was bitterness speaking. Though he wore no chains on him, no cuffs or restraints, allowed to dress as proper as he had before, Wilhelm was a prisoner. The large iron beast behind him was evidence of that. Azura's scowl so deep the young man thought it might be a permanent vestige on her visage to mark the former distain.

"You never heard that," she stated, gently pushing Wilhelm forward in the camp. Oh he heard plenty.

"The confederate Faunus to the south say they'll support us if we move on Vale city, we will need more support to take the capitol however." The next report was not nearly as loud, but still could make itself heard over the roaring. A field had been cut out, the earth still muddy and barren from the move. Many raised seats by separate torches lit to illuminate the dusk evening.

"Ice Marsh claims neutrality, I believe they will defect to our side given some time and promises to end a few territorial disputes settled," a much smaller, but precise voice spoke. Most of the camp seemed to silence when she started. This part of the plan seemed to make more sense. Denounce the king and see who would follow suit. Appeal more to the traditionalists measures of right or wrong. Explained the titles better too, and who thought of this. Though Wilhelm had not heard that voice in person since he was a child and rarely on radio, he knew it was Maledetta, the bride to be that never was.

She was a smart girl, Wilhelm remembered that. Most at the Vytal festivals went after heirs, girls and boys alike trying to win over Weiss' affection yet none wanted the second, none gave the ten year old Wilhelm their hand and asked them to dance. None wanted his favor...except for one little girl with black hair and dull weak eyes. A doe they called her, Maledetta Cid. Heir to Fort Castle. Little doe was smarter than all the other sharks. She wanted Schnee money, but not Schnee order, not the strings that came with someone so powerful as Weiss. Wilhelm didn't know it as a kid, too busy being happy anyone paid him any mind and they danced. Later that day their engagement was finalized, never to be broken until today.

This wasn't a dance floor in Vale Castle. This was a muddy little meeting pavilion open to the many Faunus nobilities beside merchants of death and dust. This was a crowed of warriors, many who had injuries, scars, battered sprites and bruised bodies. This was the winning side cheering her, and she was still just a little doe playing them all beside an equally played young man, the man that would have been Wilhelm. He hated this faunus would-be-king, though perhaps he should be thankful. Seeing this brilliant little woman play politics like a violin, this likely spared Wilhelm a horrid fate. The same mercy would not be returned.

"Charles," Azura started, earning mixed looks. Warriors looked on in love and admiration, who couldn't after seeing her on the field, but the chiefs seemed distrusting. _Is there some bad blood here?_ Wilhelm couldn't help thinking. Whatever bad blood was there the man of the hour, Charles, seemed happy to see her and no matter how angry she seemed, Wilhelm could see a subtle smile in those blue eyes of hers.

"King Charles!" the large lion corrected in a shout. The many of the faunus cheered and repeated the pointless title, though all it did was make the man of the hour sit even more uncomfortably in his high seat. The king wasn't dressed like one; still in leather armor with nothing regel about him whatsoever. Perhaps that was the point, a puppet king. Someone to have a title in the meantime. The Battle of Fort Castle, more like slaughter, was the crowning jewel to him. The black cat was famous now, who better to be the puppet. How tight were the strings? How easily could they be twisted and pulled? Wilhelm intended to find out exactly if this doll wanted to be a king or just the royal illusion.

"Shut up Murray," some people were immune to this facade. Azura for whatever reason was clearly disillusioned, "Charles, he signed the papers, the Schnee boy wanted to meet with you however." All eyes shot to Wilhelm. One would think being in an animal's pen, surrounded by the biggest beasts would be scary, but the anger in Wilhelm, perhaps a touch of madness now, made fear laughable.

"Don't like the king title much Azura?" Wilhelm joked, taking the stage before them all, front and center before the large pavilion map. The only one who seemed as uncomfortable as Wilhelm, was Charles if that could be conceived. This confirmed something, the boy knew he was tied to strings, he lacked the confidence of a king in his own right. The kid was as smart as they say then. Perfect.

"I don't either to be honest. I don't intend to be king for long, just a temporary formality until real reform can happen in this country, least that's the plan," Charles admitted, leaning back in his chair eyes darting between the young Schnee and the center map.

"So King Charles, I should say thank you, for the hospitable treatment," Wilhelm started taking a step in front of the map. He wasn't talking to the crowd; he was talking to the little Faunus king. The rest of them could all be traitors and part of this conspiracy, the only one that could be bet on is this one, the one that saved Wilhelm on the airship, took that bolt.

"Wilhelm Schnee. I know your name, many faunus families have been abused by Schnee mining practices, but many more have been saved by your machines and technology. Honestly I don't know how to feel about you," Charles replied leaning forward in the seat, those amber eyes locked.

"I think that's mutual, a year ago your name wasn't anything more than something on a birth record if that," Wilhelm began, sliding his hand on the map, remembering the pieces, chess pieces. Each different with a different meaning. Only Charles and his commanders would understand them, clever.

"Schnee don't you even bother-" a voice called from the back, but it was not deterring at all, it was expected.

"But! You've become famous, in a year you've become king of your small, albeit growing, nation. I can respect that." Respect was a strong word, if not the most apt. In any business deal one needs to know how to sweeten people up first, make them more comfortable.

"If you can respect that then why are you even here? Why did I have to commandeer your ship. Not very respectful to take my home." _Take your home?_ Wilhelm questioned in his mind with burning fury, _this was supposed to be my home!_ Still he smiled, though the grimace that hid below that smile pushed so hard to come out, begged even. These acts were getting harder.

"Mind you, we were being ambushed, I came to seek answers, not to kill anyone. You're not stupid, that is what one would describe as your essence. No one tells about how you're the best fighter, that's more, Murray, chief Murray right? More his line of work. I'm not a fighter as well, I'm a thinker, and man that deals with money. My sister is the fighter." Small hidden threats as well as suggestions were important, if casual. Nothing big enough to lead to an accusation, nothing that made you anything more than a simple whisperer of nightmares that may or may not come on a passing fancy.

"Point being?" And Charles was smart enough to know to ignore it.

"You don't want to fight and you don't want to fight my sister. I want to go home, see my family and important people to me," Wilhelm added directly with a bit of a plea, a wish for something almost anyone in the crowd could agree. Truthful too. Wilhelm wanted to go home so badly, the Roses, _they need to know what's going on,_ _I need to see Qrow again. Somehow tell him...everything._

"And if I let you go?" Charles asked, not so stubborn as to deny the musing.

"The thing is you can't I still have questions I need answered. Who murdered Wernher Schnee." The path of blood was impossible to revoke now, he was here and there was no turning back. Uncle was cold sometimes, forgetful, but he was still family, he was a good man and nothing was going to stop Wilhelm from finding the truth until someone cut out his goddamn beating heart.

"And I have no reason to let you go," Charles added, which was true, Wilhelm was a valuable prisoner after all, "the murder was not us by the way, your Uncle was a good man." _He was._

"That's why I have a suggestion. I'm not a fighter, but I have teeth. I Challenge you to a duel." Madness, absolute madness. Risking it all in something Wilhelm considered for so long below him. Today he couldn't be the banker, he had to be Weiss. Remembering everything she taught him. No smiles, only the more serious of glares, the Schnee fury burning in him. Today there was no such thing as Wilhelm, that creature did not exist, there was just two Weiss', two blizzards made of animosity and ready to take the blade to anything that got in their way, ready to cut down a million if it meant getting justice.

The crowd reacted in a mix of ways, some shouting curses, others laughing the Taurus dead silent behind her grimm mask while Murray just giggled. Wilhelm didn't care what the reaction, there was only two people here. A man dressed in white born again from ice and fury and a supposed king who could maybe, just maybe stop it all.

"No," Charles balked, sitting more straight and on edge. He could see the blizzard coming. "I'm not the strongest, remember?"

"You don't need to be. you can pick someone else. Azura right? Let her do it. Fair duel right? No Semblance, no shields or guns, just our armor and swords. You may call the match if any of us are in danger or Aura gets too weak." Wilhelm would have stuttered at that suggestion, had this been the same Wilhelm. Now with a frozen heart and weeks of planning, he figured the wolf out. She was a beast unbreakable with her shield in hand, Wilhelm had seen it. She was completely horrific by any measure, but take away her shield, she was heavy, weighted and strong, but not impossible to fight. The semblance was a risk, so taking that away was a must. After all whatever could make this huntress more animal could not be good.

"No," Charles replied steady without a hesitation steady and unphased, not so prideful to be an idiot and accept. Clever was good.

"Don't you want to know what's the bet?" Wilhelm suggested taking a step towards the king. Azura blocked his path, oh she was frightening wasn't she, but Wilhelm had to believe in his plan.

"N-"

"Castle White and the Schnee dust. The North even," Wilhelm cut Charles off, side stepping Azura.

"Charles do not listen to this man, Schnees are liars, their blood comes from Atlas, they are loyal to no one," the Taurus murmured when most others were silent. The ancient exodus from Atlas was a legend no one seemed to forget, insufferable insults, but Wilhelm needed to say nothing, the bet was too big to be refused. Charles waved and so it would be done. All were silent.

"I make you this bet, I lose I will be sworn to you and the knights under my command as well, however few, to you as well as my personal wealth. You will allow me to investigate the murder of my uncle with your own detectives. My sister will not fight me and might even side with you if you help me bring the murders to justice." From within Wilhelm could find the truth, even if it meant being a turn coat. If the Faunus were all guilty the fine pleasure of destroying them on the inside bit by bit. _Once you take down a few chiefs, what's left of this army? Farmers and outlaws?_

"And if you win?" Charles asked, more cautious than ambitious. The false title hadn't gone to his head quite yet.

"I get sent home with all of my men, after swearing an oath to never harm a Faunus, as well as acting as an envoy to my sister about you, and your work. I will arrange a peaceful terms between our family and yours. In exchange I return and am given free reign to investigate the murder on my terms, my way, with my knights with a promise, that whoever is involved in this conspiracy against the two of us, you'll hang yourself." Charles was dead silent, he had a thick upset grimace on his face knowing full well how the bets were trapped. In both the only constant was the investigation of a murder that everyone felt was a crime. By denying him this it was as if you admitted to shooting Wernher himself. Now he had to accept, just to save face. It was public, that was the luck that was the plan. _How angry it must feel_, Wilhelm thought silently, _to know you trapped yourself just by letting me talk in front of everyone_.

"You're a smart man, Azura?" Charles sounded so tired, already defeated, but the crowd wasn't. Common soldiers shouted in excitement, camp alive with excitement. Whatever happened, at least Wilhelm would put on a good show.

"Yeah I get it, no killing right?" Azura answered, walking passed them both. That was it, time to make a fool of himself.

"Can I be given my sword then?"

* * *

><p>"Do you intend to ruin Charles?" Maledetta asked. She had come as soon as the arena was patched together. For their credit the Faunus people did away with the normal pomp and circumstance for everything was absent. No fine wooden battle coliseum like they had in Beacon. Instead they cleared out a patch of muddy earth with only wooden posts to mark the divide, a few with hung lamps as light. Beyond that was a massive audience more animal than man it seemed. Horns and teeth given form covered in fur and filled with fury, this sort of sporting event was popular though Wilhelm felt like the posts almost protected him from the beasts than more than it did them from the battle.<p>

On one side a small girl with tall rabbit ears loaded armor onto Azura, she seemed sweet on her and the Wolf seemed content to smile and not devour the bunny. Wilhelm was not given the same luxury, he had no squire, no one to give him anything aside from the sword that was rightfully his sisters. The only person who came to greet the Schnee was Maledetta.

"I intend to get the debts to my family collected, that's all." Someone frankly he did not want to see.

"Do you consider us a debt…" The woman asked, playing the doe again, her fine black silken dress, more in the Faunus style than the proper western. She still had hair made of woven thin strains that long since passed those dimly lit eyes of hers.

"Does he know you're playing him?" Wilhelm asked, not with any venom, just curiosity. Wilhelm had no armor to put on, no point when a zweihander would cleave it. Instead he unhooked his coat tossing it aside, it was warm but weighty and could barely block a bad arrow shot, a thing he didn't need. His undershirt as well, let the cold wrap around him, be his armor. Schnee's weren't supposed to be cold, they were blood of Atlas. Next were the leggings of his pants, sliced so nothing would slow his movement, fine shoes tossed into the mud as well next to the fine dress shoes and all other amenities. Perhaps they would laugh at him, near naked in sliced clothes, his chest bare and chilled by autumn wind. If there were, shouts outweighed them.

"We are married, whether we want it or not, what affects one affects us both," the young woman defended, maybe even truthfully, "I like him too. He's got a good heart, together we can do great things, that's still worth something Wilhelm."

"Another time we might have gotten along, the three of us," Wilhelm admitted. Had they been born in a more peaceful time, had Charles not been what he was, had he not stolen everything from Wilhelm, had Schnee blood not soaked the floor. Maybe then.

"But not now?"

"and never again." Wilhelm walked out into the muddy circus seeing all he needed to, the king stood at the far end, surrounded by his chieftains and knights, Murray and the Taurus most noticeable. Their champion was visible, coolly walking out as the rain lightly began to drip on them.

"Shall we begin kid? You can still back out." Wilhelm couldn't hear anyone else, feel anyone else, just the beast of iron. Azura Thrym, the big bad wolf. Her blood and black armor lined with azurite facings and blue cloth, the heavy shield was off, her hand left slack and bored. In the right was a massive sword, the Zweihander, the whole thing lined with dust crystals, something interestingly lose hanging off it. That marred face and deep blue eyes were hidden by a helm marked with a wolf's mask. A boy versus a wolf, story as old as time.

"Go!"

The slack form burst forth, the tornado of energy and rage, the sharp edge slamming down for Wilhelm's head. That man would have died, but right now he wasn't him, he wasn't the smiling boy he left, he was stone cold ice.

A quick side step and thrust sent the rapier chipping away at the blue azurite. It was auseless, but important step. One failure and Wilhelm stepped back, not letting the blade swing back into his skull. The space granted, Wilhelm readjusted his strategy. Let the wolf charge and that she did. Blade with so much force it could carve a nevermore barely missed Wilhelm, stepping aside, smacking the helm lightly with the blade, the iron mask shifting slightly.

Do it. Force of a monster propelled that sword right around. Any idiot caught blocking would be dead, crushed in a moment. Wilhelm was a different kind of idiot, falling backwards, hand stretching out just barely under the blade_. Catch it, catch it. Catch It Gods Damn It!_

A kick landed in Wilhelm's chest, the energy of it easily cracking his ribs if he had not so quickly brought up his aura. Instead his body tumbled through the mud, bashing right into the wooden posts. It hurt, hurt so badly, the ribs screaming even if dulled by the mystical properties in Wilhelm's body. His mind though, rested firmly in the palm of his off hand. A stone loosened from time and combat, finally torn by nimble hands. A stone made of frost dust, a piece of this unlikely victory. Of all the dust stones engraved in the blade to come loose. Ice, the gods have a mocking sensibility.

"Kid, be done with this, throw the fight before I hurt you," Azura spoke softly, lifting her blade as Wilhelm stood. Who she looked like a winner, her helm shifted mud covered but unharmed. Wilhelm on the other hand was covered in mud, the rain kind enough to clean his hair, but not enough to hide the new bruises.

"It's cold today," Wilhelm whispered as Azura swung the zweihander. Wilhelm dived forward, under the strike and below the legs, but with dust in hand he activated his semblance, cheating yes, but no one would know. Frost was forming on the cool earth early this fall, just lightly in the mix of watery mud. Azura slipped as she turned, that mass of iron tumbling right into mud. Wilhelm, knew where his ice formed, kicking himself up into the solid bits of earth, hand tight on the rapier switching to the offensive. Azura was on the ground and Wilhelm had the advantage. He pressed it, slashing the tip between the blades of the armor, first the knees and shoulders.

"Call it!" Wilhelm shouted, jabbing into the beast's leg as it tried to stand. Every time she moved to get up, the Schnee put her back down. The mud and ice sucked her down in her own armor, no semblance let her over power. Nicks again and again, some that might heal clean, other little scars.

"No!" Azura roared, spinning a sword around, again had the edge that would split ursi and a kick back that shattered the earth below the blade. Wilhelm was still too nimble, still on his feet while Azura could not stand, a beaten and trapped wolf. All that muscle, all that power, and she couldn't stand yet to use it.

"Call it!"

"Shut up bastard!" A swift moment passed, too fast for Wilhelm to think or record, but it ended in blood. Azura was on top of him, sword tossed away, her helm tossed away and one of her facial scars cut back open, dripping blood lightly onto the young man's cheek. Her hand was choking Wilhelm, but the rapier was tightly in her neck, a little pressure would nick it.

"It's over! Wilhelm wins! Medics!" Charles' reason would stop the fight though the beast was not soothed; instead she was crying angry, animal eyes looking into him as the woman was pulled away. She blared and wailed no, but no one listened. Wilhelm, just laughed, laughed sitting in the mud and rain. He won, cheated, but won. When Weiss heard of this, how she would giggle like the schoolgirl she never was. _A good story to say the least._

"Let me kill him Charles, he's insulted us!" the Taurus shouted taking center stage, her blade unfolding into a horrible spear sword Wilhelm couldn't trick in the same way. It hurt so much to stand, the beaten ribs and screaming head. The Schnee could stand, but just barely on his strongest leg, but there was no way in hell he was going to die in the mud.

"No, he won I won't start a war over a murder. Wilhelm tomorrow we'll write up my response to your sister and your oath and from there you can be on your way." The question of whether Charles had a crown of wood or worth seemed to come to an end here today. Based all on this one moment. The Taurus was silent, that grim bone mask saying nothing.

"Fine I won't kill him, as you wish king." A moment passed and Wilhelm walked, stepping past the Taurus over to Charles. Perhaps to ask for medicine or just a place to sleep slightly more protected. Maybe he could talk to Charles, they could never be friends, but warn him of what was brewing. He was clearly not involved in the conspiracy; why not turn him against them. While the enemy of an enemy is not always your friend, doesn't mean the damage they can do is real.

"Your family will burn." A whisper so light Wilhelm could barely hear it.

"What?"

There it was, black and feathered just like the nevermore it came from, but most of all it hurt, it hurt so much. The strike turned everything a shade of red, deep and hazy, the kind of pain that cripples you. Wilhelm could feel it sap away at his body and make him want to fall as the rupture in his chest drain what was left of Wilhelm into the abyss.

_No!_

_God damn it no!_

There wasn't sound in Wilhelm's world, the abyss all around him only rescinded by the color of that nevermore feather lodged in his chest. Fury was his blood, ice his veins. He would make them understand the hell they had wrought. Though his eyes weld in red, his semblance froze the ruptured heart. There was no time to speak, nothing to say, just to prove. Grasping suddenly at the Taurus, her neck in Wilhelm's hand, the dust stone pressed in her throat, he would make her understand. Understand that even if history would forget Wilhelm, a fool who died at Fort Castle, the Taurus wouldn't, she would know it was this Schnee ghost who would bring them never ending winter. Just as the ice from his dust creped up this woman's neck and cracked her mask Wilhelm would be the seed that grew the flower of ice in the Faunus heart. This crime would shatter it, this crime would drown her people and damn well as she watched him die, watched that last breath choke on his blood filled lungs, she would know how she killed her people. The mask cracked open and Wilhelm looked into her eyes.

_The snowflakes will suffocate you all._

***** Wilhelm Schnee is named after Wilhelm the I, Emperor of Germany that along with Otto Von Bismarck, modernized German and formed an empire that would not fall till WWI**

**Volume 2 episode 3 did make this A.U. unfortunately, though I'll be trying to retroactively keep the A. to a minimum and adjust to this (such as Schnee's being from Atlas is sort of represented here)**

**Thanks to TCR for the edits and LazyKatze for being my partner in crime for all this crazy nonsense.**


	14. Chapter 14: I'm Sorry

**Chapter 14: I'm Sorry**

**Lord Weiss Schnee the II**

"Wake up my Lord."

`Weiss never enjoyed sleep like others did. Not falling asleep as much as waking up. Suddenly the darkness that enveloped the mind, this peaceful silent state was torched with light and memory. All the things one had to worry about flooded back, ruining whatever rest you could get. First came the thoughts of her company with faunus work revolts in the mountain mines demanding higher wages since the war expanded, an issue previously managed by Wilhelm.

And so there was that worry, Wilhelm the little boy she sent off to war. Such a stupid mistake, so weak willed she was to just let the kid go, barely a man with no experience with warring. No the little soldier boy would never come home, at least not the warm cheerful person he was. Instead today was the day his body was on schedule to be delivered from the New Faunus Kingdom.

The next two concerns reared their head at the thought of her cold brother's corpse being dragged into town, all in the second before Weiss' eyes snapped open. One, whether or not to order three caskets or just one. Two other Schnee's seemed ready to dance into the dark. Tied to that was the New Kingdom, one that was forged in a lot of blood and villain. Ignoring the problem was Weiss' father folly, not her own. Now she just needed to decide what to do.

Then there was the last concern, one that came to mind when the young woman set eyes on it. Fire for hair that languished lazy about her smooth skin, she was so solid and muscular, but womanly too. Her chest feminine and sizeable in comparison to Weiss' more meager proportions, curves that lead to her hips and legs, everything visible, only a small patch of crimson to provide any sort of coverage. Thetis Nikos was a beautiful problem.

"Today's your first official day of court, you have to get up my lord," the gentle foreigner with the softest green eyes whispered as her thumb gently brushed Weiss' lip. Waking up naked in a mess of covers, door boarded up and the lords chambers empty of anyone else. This is what happened when Thetis Nikos had night duty. It wasn't meant to happen, she was supposed to be like any other crush, something the young noble would suffocate inside her until her father died and she would be free. Instead they gravitated towards each other, ever since the duel they started almost looking for moments to slide past each other, though it was always platonic.

That was until Weiss got the letter, the letter that Wilhelm was dead. She put on that she didn't care, to some like she was even happy, but in her room the mask fell off and Weiss cried. Not since she was born could there have been a moment like this, sobbing, screaming into the bed. Thetis was there and when the tears cooled to a slow steady stream, Thetis picked up the quaking mass left behind and cradled her. It was so warm, so necessary in that moment. They kissed and soon after words made love, as silly as that word had seemed in Weiss' head any day prior. Now Thetis was the personal night guard up to five times a week, time of which was invaluable. Still that hiding was only supposed to be until the title of lord of Castle White was passed down, yet still…

"Let's wait a moment. I'd prefer to be right here Thetis," Weiss replied still sleepy. One of her hands pulled the Mistralian woman on top of her, the other reaching up to brush the soft red line that ran down her face. Scars could be such pretty little things.

"Weiss, you need to go, and I need to as well. I've got to talk to my men, set up the roaster-" Thetis started with lame excuses, trying to pull away.

"Talk to your man you mean?!" Weiss didn't mean to be as angry as she was, but Thetis' daily retreats back always drove a massive wall between them, a wall made of one buffoon of a man.

"Yes, my husband as well," the Mistralian woman admitted, her green eyes that seemed so soft now were illusive, darting away to whatever dark corner she could find solace in. Though she no longer pulled away, just hovered over Weiss, a nude beauty with too much shame for her own perfection.

"Leave him, marry me instead," Weiss offered with a glint of reckless abandon in her eye.

"You can't marry me, not to mention heirs," Thetis argued rationally as she collapsed onto Weiss, their forms mingled and twisted into one another, a closeness and warmth between them as the Mistralian sweetly lay her head on Weiss' shoulder.

"So stay, you'll be my lady in waiting forever, I'll take no husbands," Weiss reasoned, brushing the red thin strands of her sweets hair whimsically, "Friedrich can produce heirs, he doesn't share in mine or Wilhelm's preferences, you can tell with how much he plays with the Rose girl. It was nice like that on the cool autumn day, enough for all the pain to seem manageable and all the nightmares a mere inconvenience laid out by some sort of ineffectual god. That was until Thetis hid her eyes and body tensed, something Weiss knew was her sign of shame.

"I can't just abandon my husband...he's not a bad man." That did the same thing to Weiss, what was more heinous to her was how factual that was. The two were both good people and though the love had not touched their relationship once as it was arranged, he was still kind and trying.

"I'll make him rich, he can retire and live a good life," Weiss retorted trying desperately to not let this man ruin everything without even knowing.

"The child," Thetis asked the bigger question, hand pressing against the rippled muscles of her belly. The child was a recent development, made only a few weeks before the news of Wilhelm had come. It complicated everything to Thetis even if it meant nothing to Weiss.

"She will have a far better future here. I can have your little girl be made a knight, even marry into the family, perhaps make her Warden of Vermillion by marriage in time, she will be my child as much as yours." A rash statement, but one Weiss had been prepared for since the day Thetis had missed her period. For whatever mockery love made of people Weiss was willing to be a fool for the thing that made her feel alive when everyone around her was dead.

"He deserves a father." Thetis always believed it would be a boy, something Weiss both rejected and stupidly forgot.

"Then your husband can stay here, plenty of work for an abled bodied soldier living rich in my city. Your baby can have two mothers along with a father so long as you are only mine," Weiss begged trying to be as firm as she could despite how Thetis stood up, the covers unveiling her, but there wasn't anything arousing about how she looked, ready to just cry. "Just divorce him... please stay with me I'll make everyone happy."

"I should go," Thetis replied turning away and off the bed, her armor and clothes languishing across the chambers as she one by one picked them up and dressed. "I've betrayed him enough."

"Be my guard again tonight, we'll talk about this, we don't have to have sex," Weiss begged again, quickly getting up from bed, she was in no rush to cover herself, she had already seen the silver patch below close enough to know far more detail than a glance could do her now. Even though her body wasn't as feminine, muscles bigger and chest unusually small, too tall on top of that, she wasn't going to be ashamed. Despite a fair face and long hair she was not pretty in a womanly sense yet she still had to be worth it, had to believe that. "For both of you, he deserves to be in a loving marriage. Things are dead between you two. Set both of you free."

"I'll try, the guard thing I mean. Have a good morning my Lord… you look beautiful... I'm sorry."

Thetis left after that, sliding silently out the door leaving Weiss alone in the largest bedroom in the Castle, a moonstone cage right now. All the wealth and moonstone in the world couldn't buy Thetis or bring Wilhelm back.

Without a sound, Weiss dressed herself. The uniform was much the same as the one she wore as the night's grand master, but now she was a lord, the knightly Schnee red was now joined by blue accents and the crest in the center. The military garb felt imposing, empowering even, wearing it now made worries seem dimmer by her own light. Her hair was still let low and now she wore a tiara, the most feminine accompaniment to this personal, it was the crown of the north, in practice at least. She was Weiss Schnee, Lord of Castle White and the White river, form the Northwater to Vermillion, she was Queen in practice.

I am Weiss Schnee the Second, I am the Lord.

That was the mantra she used to walk out into the halls with a sturdy frame and a heart made of stone. All who looked on her saw the glacier of power that was the Schnee family name. They saluted, as they should, they would bow, as they should. All the hurt and worry became solidarity as she marched down in uniform. This would not be the end. Whoever killed Wilhelm would not get away with it and now after her coronation it was time to make good on the name Schnee.

There was only one detour to make, a short little break to promise. There was a dark lonely room, one made of false Ice crystal and cold soft beds. This wasn't a room people lived in, this was a room people died in.

"Good morning father."

He was silent and if he could hear her there was no way he could reply in his broken body, paralyzed throughout. Both he and their always so distant mother lay there on the precipice between this world and the next, the toxin having rendered them into this useless state, bodies reduced to inoperative husks. Doctors named it some neurotoxin famed for its long wait coupled with fast active period. If one lived the person would be left useless after, death or mentally imprisoned.

"Wilhelm comes home today, I know he's never been your favorite, but father I know you loved him. He knew it too." There was no response as Weiss spoke to nothing but the unusually cold air.

"I'm not going to let them get away with this. I promise, we'll behead all the traitors and animals who would do this. I'll skin them alive I promise I will!" Weiss didn't notice she was crying till the tears dripped from her chin. It was safe to cry here. Still the silence did nothing to quell the rage inside. Instead it just intensified.

"So father, I asked the lieutenant in charge of the Faunus irregulars, what the name Nimh means," Weiss mentioned stepping close to the bed rest, reaching down to touch her father's cheek. It was so boney and withered like this. Just touching it made her hands quake. "It means poison dad."

* * *

><p><strong>Qrow the Hunter<strong>

Qrow didn't have any time to grieve Wilhelm's passing, and despite perhaps wanting to for his own conscious he found himself strangely without much in the way of sorrow. People were either crying of celebrating the man's death, though the latter was done mostly in secret, the hunter instead found himself strangely ambivalent.

Qrow as a man owed the Schnee a certain amount of loyalty just for his patronage and the way he treated Summer. That was certainly true, but he neither thought it best nor wanted to show his loyalty by crying. Instead he acted on the young man's last wishes, tracking down people, names, identities, who was and wasn't a part of the Royalist, Lordly, or Republican factions. What he found was even more emotionally distressing than Wilhelm's death.

Information was slow to pass, people always named their competition as the traitor when pressured and of course no one named anything. The police were too direct and Qrow on paper worked on grimm related matters. One threat was consistent. Everyone knew the Schnee upper family had been poisoned, as to who depended on the factions, though the most common theory pointed to the house maid Nimh who had also gone off with Wilhelm, these were facts understood, so Qrow followed them. From Nimh he traced back her mother, her source of employment to a small firm that had worked for the royal family.

The man who owned that firm followed the royal army into Winterstown, stayed a while sipping wine and drinking away his time in a tavern as the prince stomped his feet around trying to make an army out of his idiots. Still when the royalist left with Nimh in toe, he stayed behind, was still around at court and formal events every day, every day besides the one where Lord Otto and his wife took ill suddenly. Little things like that could tell a lot more than gross gossip.

Qrow hunted monsters not people, but if they really were involved in a conspiracy rife with murder then it must have not been so different a creature. So the young hunter tracked him just like any other monster, tracked him to that reeking tavern. Waiting till he had enough drink to be rendered stupid then followed him to his car, a dust powered armored van.

Not everything went as planned, the drunk may have not noticed a thing, but his guards sure did. It was like chasing an ursa through a forest, but the trees were made of stone and brick, and the beast didn't have spines on his back, it had a Gatling gun.

Bolts of dust powered shells made a hell of a close call, even a semblance of slow merely turned the bastards into full speed arrows. Cloaked in red, Qrow danced between rounds along rooftops and into alleys, a good five minutes of chase and disarray, so soon the police bells could be heard in the distance.

How does one knock a nevermore out of the sky? One simply burns off its wings. How does one toss a van off the road? Much the same as it turns out. Fire dust infused crossbow bolt to the wheel, its heated flame spreading through the rubber, its form engorging, expanding, and rupturing.

There was a lot of fire after that, some amount of blood though Qrow managed to pull everyone from the wreckage. The only man left conscious after that was the target, his arm bleeding, but not terrible. He could stand, but not run, simply shuffle away as Qrow approached.

"Wait," he called in a rough voice, something between a screech and a sobbing plea, "You're Qrow, you're the hunter, you're on the wrong side, please don't spill more blood for the corrupt you know this is senseless!" Qrow didn't, but he knew he wasn't a murderer.

"Why did the Faunus Pretender murder Wernher and Otto and how is the king involved. Tell me and there doesn't need to be any senseless blood." No matter which way it went there wasn't going to be any, but Qrow didn't need to say that and spinning his scythe around illustrated his illusion.

"The King Charles didn't order the murder; our king didn't either though he would kill us all if it would fatten him up a little more. This war is his engineering, but now that the blooding has started for everything to be good again good men had to pass. Please listen to me!"

"Then tell me who did this!"

"Hunter! Pay attention!" Qrow snapped out of his memory, the alley way and fire all disappeared around him. Where there had been brick now there was moonstone and glass, where there were dark skies now there was light shining from the sun above, where there was no one besides him and his target stood dozens of courtly figures in their fine dress, fat bellies and extravagant outfits. The person before Qrow was not a man covered in his own blood, not a man at all really. It was the self-styled Lord Weiss, though lady had been the former title she preferred the masculine. She had an angry self-important look about her, the same look she always had. She was the epitome of what Qrow hated about the aristocracy; at least Wilhelm acted kind even if it was just an act.

"I'm sorry ma'am what was it?" the hunter asked innocently. He didn't want this conversation, didn't want it with her most of all. The deeds of the night before were playing in his mind till this very moment, but he was no closer to some definitive decision. He needed more time to think(,) more time to choose.

"You caused a stir now you want to play? I tolerate you because I want the answers Wilhelm sent you to find, if they exist at all. Other than that and your sister's friendship with Friedrich I wouldn't keep you on pay. If that little stunt you pulled last night earned us any information I need to know now. Not later, now." There was a cursed intensity to her and in this moment it felt like no matter what Qrow would say she would spit at him.

_I don't want you to kill anyone, spill any blood, I want you not to do anything at all. Don't choose a side, that's all. Think of Summer._ The last words Qrow ever heard from that man played in his head as it had so many times before, it was trapping. Tongue wrestled out the worlds, everything ready to come out at once. The secret to all of the murders.

"I'm sorry."

That came out instead.

"Useless," Weiss muttered and at once silenced any information that might have passed his lips. It was done, the decision of not deciding was made. Couldn't be that dangerous, after all the beauty of indecision is it allows decision later. Until then Qrow took a back seat as Weiss ascended to the throne above the court hall, a sign for all to respect her authority.

Whatever insults one could say about Weiss, the fact that she did not command order would never be one of them. Even people that discredited her claim and competence backed into the side corners and she stepped towards the throne keeping a rifle in hand. She never sat in the moonstone chair, no she stood, butt of the gun pressed into the elevated flooring, hands at the top. This is how she presided over those she ruled, tall and militaristic with vengeful glare.

"Begin!" She shouted and all the talk ceased. Everyone hid behind pillars and low hanging snowflake banners. Thetis of the brave bronze took her position to the right of Weiss, one step down and one out of the way. One of the other knights Qrow simply knew as the man who scuffed whenever he talked stood at equal distance to the left. At the bottom of the stairs was a rather large bearded man with the most Orange of hair and queerly oversized hammer. That was Rollo, a good man if a bit brutish. Another hired sword named Thrush was positioned across from Qrow, both a fair distance away from the Ice Queen. A nice diamond formation of martial power.

Below the steps, a young woman, someone's squire made announcer took a few steps passed some tired looking soldiers. She was a bit of a portly thing as much of the upper class tended to be and waddled as she took center stage.

"First in line is the Sentinels of Vermillion issuing a petition-"

"First is my brother." Weiss interrupted with a hard declarative pause.

"They are third in line…" She didn't need to say anything, just look at the portly girl for the announcer to know how badly she had screwed up. "I'm sorry my lord. The New Faunus king's envoy!"

Sliding to the front came a series of Faunus, not completely unheard of, but almost always they were merchants or the leader of the irregulars, but very rarely were they so well dressed and armed. Qrow didn't know tribe names, but their leader was one of the fox type, his ear tips a light white? while the rest of him was red. He had a cheery look about him, though the animal side of him was an unfortunate variety considering Nimh.

They carried in with them an illustrious casket its core made of old moonstone, something Qrow knew was mined in the same place as the Fort Castle's dust reserves. If it wasn't on wheels the thing would have been impossible to move. For the first time ever the red hunter felt sad knowing Wilhelm was dead and was forever preserved in a box.

"Lord Weiss Schnee." The leading Faunus began standing next to the casket, but never presuming to pass it, "I am Ban Bréige humbled and grateful to be allowed in this hall. Our good King Charles has sent me to give his personal condolences both for your Uncle Wernher and your brother Wilhelm who we have brought with all proper consideration for your traditional rites. My king sent me before word of your parents had reached us. I'm sorry personally, and as confidant of the king I can say he had the highest respect for-"

"I appreciate the pleasantries, but you have my brother's body, let me see it. Open the casket," Weiss order taking steps from her throne to the moonstone case, her entire entourage moving with her in orderly step.

"My lord Schnee tradition as I am sure you know dictates the body be preserved in dust forged ice, we have already froze him. The seal keeps the ice intact, it'll melt," the faunus argued bowing slightly with an apologetic smile.

"The body is to be frozen by the next of kin; I'm supposed to freeze it with ice dust alone. Let me see." Weiss was close to them now, close enough to the casket to wipe her palm against the glowing white surface. There was an intensity in her touch, like the rock would turn to molten fire when she contacted it.

"Do you know how your brother passed my Lord? I believe it might be important for you to know to give," Ban paused thinking on a word, "context, as to why this might be a painful request."

"Yes, he died in a duel correct? His Aura dropped in an accident? Were you there?" Weiss didn't look at him when she spoke, only at the casket.

"Yes I was my lord, it was absolutely tragic, our king wept at the sight. He always said Wilhelm Schnee would be an agent of peace when Tyrant Geordie sought to oppress both our rights. It was quick however grizzle, a great sword through the shoulder down to the heart. King Charles has promised to investigate the duel in case of cheating, but it seems likely an accident. I don't think the gentlemen would be ready to see such a thing." Qrow considered himself lucky to be hidden in the back and that both Summer and Friedrich were off being tutored. He didn't know if right now he could stomach looking at Wilhelm mangled without whispering what he knew.

"If my court can't handle the sight of blood they shouldn't be here," Weiss replied pushing on the stone, she was strangely strong, and what too many men to lift she shoved off with only a few grunts. "You admit again you were there? You saw a sword cut him yourself?" The lid smashed apart colliding with the ground, all that expense turned to ruin. It even cracked the floor. The reveal was just of a solid block of blue, ice tinted by the dust it came from. No one could see what was inside as the surface started to turn to mist from the sunlight.

"Yes of course my lord. I watched and prayed I admit for our own knight Azura the wolf to win, but never for there to be blood. A duel gone sour as many do I promise." Weiss smiled like he had just told her the sweetest poem she had ever heard. The Faunus envoy seemed to sweat even as the rest of them looked confused at each other

"Good good, I like promises, they measure a man," Weiss answered looking to the large mercenary to her right, "Rollo, your hammer."

"No problem lord," the big man replied with grunt, raising the metal war pick above his head.

"I must advise against it." Didn't' matter what he did and did not advise, the hammer came down with a heavy crack that reverberated in Qrow's bones.

"I insist. A sister needs a wake, Rollo again." Again and again and again. The hammer was raised and with a grunt Rollo Valkyrie brought it down with all his might. Fragments of ice were sent everywhere, but Weiss never flinched, not till the larger pieces all snapped apart.

"Stop!" she shouted and the man did. There was relative silence in that moment and Weiss pushed piece after piece of blue ice off the body and into the floor. Qrow never saw what Wilhelm looked like, never wanted to, but when the lord stopped, she seemed to be both relieved and furious. Her hands shook, whether from cold of hate Qrow didn't know, but pain was starting to show on her face as she reached inside.

"A sword? Rollo does that look like a sword wound to you?" Rollo looked in and his expression sunk deep, a twitch in the lip said a lot.

"No not a big bite yer lordie. That's an arrow to the heart," Rollo mumbled taking a step back and pulling on his thick orange beard.

"And you Miss Nikos?" Weiss asked with a snap in her words.

"My lord please you must understand it was an emotional moment I-" Ban tried to step forward, but a spear point pushed him gently back, Thetis never let anyone close to Weiss that was for sure. Everything was unraveling.

"I must agree with Rollo my lord," Thetis taking a moment to look inside the casket.

"You said a sword, Ban. What duelist uses a bow?"

"In the moment my lord, I could swear it was a sword, but Azura is a beast of size perhaps she used a crossbow in conjunction, I was too torn to look!"

"You said you saw the sword. You lied to me." It only occurred to Qrow now, that not once had Weiss ever looked at him, really looked at the man. It was only the box, only the body inside she thought was worth even a glance.

"I-"

Never in his life had Qrow seen something spiral into mania, an irrevocable path that burned every alternative in a great big, bloody, beautiful moment. It was horrifying.

The diplomat was there, only a moment before, the shell of Weiss' rifle burrowing through his shoulder. Light bright and cold blue shined in a fraction of a moment as that ball of dust spiraled through him. All at once marks of the same blue spread through his body covering the upper right of him from the bottom of his breast to the tip of his right ear. They looked like glyphs though what kind Qrow had no idea. It was pleasant to the eyes, though the booming sound of a gunshot was still only reaching the audience when it all turned ugly.

What remained of him was a mortifying husk fused with crimson ice that shattered in the air, an explosive expansion of crystalline blood. No one screamed until the corpse hit the floor, though the ring inside Qrow's ears made hearing it impossible. The court followed the ice dusts example and burst apart into panic, the knights all pulled out both their guns and swords just snapping in from years of practice. Someone in the audience wailed and Weiss didn't seem to react to what she had done; only her eyes were glowing an azure color bright as dawn, her semblance visible. The Faunus envoy's guards all armed themselves as well, but Thetis stood between them and the one who fired her gun. No one moved.

"Oh gods!" someone cried, Qrow didn't think it was himself, though the reality of the situation seemed divorced from him so perhaps it was. It's relevance to the situation was felt only in Weiss' reaction.

"What? Can't take a little blood? Are you all so meek? My brother was a supposed coward and he went to war! That means a lot of blood and bullets and burning. Not one of you filth should so much as flinch at justice!" Weiss's voice was rumbling as she bellowed what felt like pure thunder and rage. She spoke not to one onlooker, but her own micro nation to which she was the hand of justice.

"Murderer!" one of the Faunus dared to call out. Something Qrow considered for the rest of his life as impressively brave while blood painted his hands and flecks of red ice peppered his clothes. He was a young boy of similar looks; the hunter could only hope that had not been the father.

"If he had not lied to my face…" Weiss mouthed though Qrow could only read it off her lips, "Messenger. Tell your king Ban died in a sword duel. Bring the body. I think he'll get the message." Lord Weiss Schnee had now embarked on the path of blood; there was no turning back, though Qrow would not be one to think she particularly cared. He felt the woman revealed in it, what she considered justice. "Get out!"

The boy cried but their armed escorts pulled him away and dragged out the body, a thin red streak left on the floor as it passed by everyone one along the moonstone path. Most everyone was cheering or were wide eyed in shock, Qrow included. Weiss casually walked to the throne in neither haste nor purposeful hesitance.

"They think they can just murder our families? We didn't want a war, and we won't have one. I am ordering an execution. Pretender Charles the Black is called on to face justice, him and his consorts, a mob of thousands criminals. Our guns are guillotines and our swords are the sentence. Issue orders for what's left of the Vermillion guard to meet up with us here the day after tomorrow. Order the eastern reserves to bolster and hold the river border till we can fully mobilize. All of you. I hope you're ready. Let's clean our king's mess!" It was then for the first time Lord Weiss Schnee took to her throne, she sat in it like no one ever had or would again, like it was molded just to fit her rigid self.

In all this Qrow simply stood and done what he had continued to do. Think and never act, the memory playing in his head.

_"__Tell me who damn it!"_

_"__So many people are involved! The king's sister Scarlet Tudor, the one who should be Queen, a number of parliament and Republican activists, members of the Faunus liberation movement acting from within. All the people of Vale who want to be free, free of an overpowered king, free of forced labour, free of ruthless lords from foreign kingdoms hoarding wealth. People who want that child, her name was Summer right? The people who don't want Summer to work as a huntress risking her life because her name isn't Schnee. The true revolution did it."_

Qrow's choice, though he preferred to think of it as opting not to choose at all, was never something he would say was a regret, however equally so he was not a proud of it. This moment would be a sort of nightmare of a fog, something that would haunt simply by existing. Qrow wished he had never discovered that secret, the same secret that no doubt Wilhelm was likely killed to keep it.

If the Royalist win, the Monarchy would crush any hopes of limited power, if the Schnees win Feudalism would have life anew, if the Faunus win and it'll just be an exchange of hats and chains. If the Republicans….

They didn't have to win; everyone else just had to lose. There was no turning back, even if he spoke now, it could only be to say sorry.

*****Hi everyone! One thing I never thought I'd say, but it's weird referring to the Republican faction, since it sounds like I'm thinking modern States politics when I'm more thinking revolutionary French politics, but ehh. Also hope you guys enjoyed this! If you're wondering how Weiss' semblance works, she can make dust remotely and rapidly expand in its natural element in the form of a glyph expanding from the origin point. So practically her bullets are elemental and exploded. Good fun.**

**So a lot of people died or were rendered practically dead so let's get with the name. Ban's full name means White Lie in Gaelic as Nimh's means Poison (She isn't dead though.) Otto comes from Otto the great the first Holy Roman Emperor since Charlemagne.**

**Alright for Thank yous both one to LazyKatze for helping on the first P.O.V. and TCR as always for his total set of stellar edits of the ENTIRE THING HE IS SO GOOD. Also If you want more fantasy stuff to check out a new collab I have working with LazyKatze called "The Snow White Knight and the Red Rose" which you can reach through my profile.**


	15. Chapter 15: Fractured

**Chapter 15: Fractured**

**Chief Cithaeron Murray**

There is a smell to a battle, a heightened one that tickled the nose with something awful. There was the smell of corpses, though they were not rotting yet, there was plenty that happened in the moment of death to garner a smell. Here in the field, corpses and burnt tents lined the grass where the ambush had started. Murray was marching back from Charlie's own ploy to reinforce the second part in his border war scheme to find he wasn't even needed, the only thing in the field were dead and grimm that were dispatched as soon as they charged in. Those monsters always came after battles. Now more than ever. Too much death. Too much hate.

Blood was prevalent in the air, though not as much as ash. This battle at least was heavy with smoke, a sacking was in progress and what was once was a town found itself a pile of ruin and ash, the distant keep a single lonely and battered facade as artillery bashed into it.

Murray couldn't help but notice however, a snowflake flag flying its colors at the top despite The Taurus' efforts.

This town was Highwatch, named so for its location in the White river valley border where the muddy streams became rapids here. The fall usually dried up the river, but heavy rains kept it up before the winter would freeze into a slow moving slush and cracking ice currents. This location made it a prime post to host a garrison of troops, an army in its own right meant to hold the river while Weiss built up her forces.

Attacking it head on was stupid, and Charlie was clever. Fame built on ambushes, he marched most of the mobile forces up the valley around the river openly the day after sending his envoy. Caught off guard most of the garrison would march to follow, only to be trapped in the muddy valley and encircled. The leftover guard would be first hit late in the night by the Taurus, and then midday by the Leo. All before Weiss could even have issued orders to start the war. A nasty trick to tie her hands with an envoy only to take her defenses during the delegations.

Murray didn't like it.

The plan worked better than he could hope though. This defeat would mean a loss of maybe a third of the Schnee forces, plus that airship they stole was doing fine work. The new paint job looked magnificent as it pounded the keep from its spot in the sky. The Schnee logo was covered by the black and white fire lotus and a gold crown. The Queen's idea. The Faunus added their own touch, a wolf on the other side with a claw mark. A reference to a soldier's favorite, Azura, even if the chief's all hated her. The woman was a powerful warrior, but ill-advised in politics and tactics, a bad advisor to a great man like Charlie.

"Hold up lads and ladies!" Murray called, stopping his army outside the town just below the hill. This little ruined ground, covered in craters and fire, it was the encampment, least before the shelling. "Set up a camp here. Double watch against th'grimm. Monsters'been chewing up our rear all day, kinsmen stay with me." The Kinsmen accounted for the elite inner guard of the chief, some eighty fighters. The battle officially wasn't over, but the looting was in full force. He didn't want to bring too many into the town and make it worse.

Once in the settlement proper, the human bodies were companion to Taurus ones, both live and dead. Flags showed that they were setting up camp on the other side of the stream, near town square, but even here they were everywhere. Rounding people up, dragging out valuables and setting fires to homes. Common attitude for conquerors. Many nodded at Murray, but most said nothing and stepped out of the way, allowing them to pass by closer to the town center. Fighting was still on, but it was mostly one sided. A shot or two could be heard, but Murray was in no danger, was his own troops running off into the houses was the real issue, dragging spoils up to him for permission.

Some asked for permission to take gold jewelry, others for lien notes and random assortments of goods. Murray always said yes, as was custom. As nasty as it was, raiding the enemy homes were how the army was paid. Definitely wasn't with money, gods knew Charlie had nothing he didn't steal. The oddest request involved a pair of his warriors dragging out a prisoner from a pile of them, some young human boy, dressed well, someone's squire. Exactly what they wanted.

"Can we keep him? King Charlie has a squire? 'ought we have one too? Right, what's your name lad?" the Leo woman contended, shoving this boy in chains forward, skinny lad with hair black as night and dark eyes. He had no joy in him, boy was dead walking. Nothing worth having.

"Czarny Zawisza ma'am," the mumbled in defeat. It was his first clearly. Doubted it would be his last either. No spirit was left in him.

"Don't abuse the lad and alright, no more requests now!" Murray accepted off-hand, neither caring nor wanting to know what the woman intended to do with the squire. It was something he could look into later, Charlie outlawed slavery so anything more heinous than the standard harassment any prisoner would suffer, within reason, could be punished.

The real matter at hand was that Snowflake flag, no camp could be settled while the keep was still in enemy hands; better yet if they could get it without destroying the entire tower in the process would be spectacular. A nice surrender before Charlie arrived, get the keep ready for a king.

Problem was Schnees had a nasty thing against surrender. The keep was battered the walls a few steps away from the collapse, but anyone who popped out their head, or attempted to was nailed right in it. The Taurus packed the streets, but all under cover, gunmen peeping out of blown out windows and swordsmen backed against the barricade.

The fort was just out of reliable rifle range from where Murray was and finally he had a close look at its gate. It was barely there, the hinges falling off and a chunk blown out by an artillery shot. Much of what kept the gate clear was a handful of knights outside the palisade wall, shielded by thrown together furniture. To think of it the street seemed packed with the stuff, more couches tossed into mainstream for barricades than in the houses left Murray would bet.

Closer they got to the gate, more bodies started to be seen, the Taurus that had been propped politely together most everywhere were suddenly left on the floor, no one risking a pop to the head for a corpse it seemed. Murray wasn't afraid though, him and his line of kinsmen approaching the defenders in a steady line. The defenders didn't seem keen on this, but Murray and his lads and ladies were new faces and not approaching particularly swiftly.

"Animals back up! We'll gun you down if you take one more step!" a voice behind the farthest out barricade called. He spoke like a man who spent all his life being listened to. Annoying.

"Oh shove it!" Murray shouted back ignoring him. There was what, twenty gunmen up there, maybe another ten knights outside the walls, and a handful of guns in the keep tower itself. He wasn't nervous about a few steps.

"Chief Murray pull back! We're waiting on cannon fire to bring down the fort, they'll shoot anyone who approaches." The voice was familiar from some of the war meetings, a young Taurus of unsure voice, but respectable spirit. Hair red as blood and black horns popping about, a young lad named Aka, the Taurus' eldest son. He dressed well, black armor supplemented in red painted bamboo and steel plates, armed with the curved swords his people traditionally used and a rose inlay, the symbol of his clan.

"Damn it Aka, we want to take the fort not ruin it. Is your mother in command here?" Murray spit out with a curse and a whisper, his line stopped with him.

"No, I am Chief. The Taurus took the cavalry and mobile armor we had and went after the bulk of the garrison that retreated in the ambush, I'm in command of the infantry, were taking the town," he tried to sound sure of himself, tall boy as he was standing up straight, though not so high he could be picked off by a sniper. Murray was an obvious chief and no one was shooting, boy just acted stupid for no reason.

"Ask a boy to get ya a town and leave ya with a pile of matchsticks I see," Murray replied with sarcasm, too tired for this. Clouds were rolling in from the south and he wanted to be done. "Call the artillery off and I'll negotiate a surrender."

"Understood Chief," the young Aka replied. He was a good stout and strong soldier, but an ill fitted leader or particularly smart. The boy would never be a talented chief.

"Animals I said back or we'll hang more!" Murray ignored him at first till he saw what the man meant. Along the walls Faunus dead were hanged, most looked to be young servers, teen boys and girls most of them.

"Ah shit," Murray mumbled. If rumors about Charlie were right, he definitely needed those poor kids cut down from their ropes and whomever left silenced about this. Hangings affected the king's mood quite a bit. "My name is Cithaeron Murray, I am Chief of the Valen Leo. Here to discuss surrender."

"The Fang right? You like fighting Mr. Fang?" the voice asked in its irritable tone.

"Chief Fang please. Or Murray if ya like, and aye, I do."

"Then a duel!" The man stepped out and Murray almost cursed allowed. His hair was Atlas white, one eye a much dimmer, but similar color to the boy who was Wilhelm. This man was old though, other scared over. It was a Schnee, a lesser Schnee, but a Schnee. Dueling them always went so fucking well. "I win, me, as well as the entire town and all the prisoners go home, you can keep the bloody keep. I lose, we surrender for you to do with as you will. How's that?" Easy risk for him. He'd be too busy being dead to do with what they will.

"Aye, alright I will." The cracks of thunder in hindsight must have made the hooves silent. As a storm rolled in so did others, though at the time Murray did not notice that. At the time he was dismounting, brushing off his bronze chest plate and kilt for a duel. He never even heard the woman approach, only felt the wind as she rode part her, the dirt of her horses hooves splashing him. The Taurus, Akagura, charged.

The rifles began to aim, the other knights began to rise, but as all watched her, a blinding occurred. Lighting pooled from the sky and bolted down, catching the point of her telescopic pole arm, the sword end bursting in light so bright Murray was robbed of his sight for a moment, but so did it to the gunners that were supposed to kill her.

Thunder shattered ears, and whatever scream the old Schnee man would have made was nothing to the sound of that bolt so close. This was her semblance, electro-kinetic control it seemed. When sight returned a moment later, the gate, and the man were blown into fire from the pooled bolt. The other Taurus soldiers ran in, swords draw to support their leader, the fort taken by storm.

"Oh hell," Murray groaned, rubbing his beaten eyes, "Kinsmen follow them in, support the fight and for gods' sake don't let them destroy anything we need!" Today was a long one filled with exhausting people. The Leo had to admit two things though, that was an impressive ability, and a very well trained horse.

* * *

><p>"Murray you look well," Akagura replied politely, their first real conversation together instead of letting poor Aka suffer as the go between. The line of them, as well as other chiefs and important figures lined the main street in perfect order awaiting the royal procession.<p>

"You look," Murray could only stare into the bone mask, "as you do." That was enough conversation thankfully as the horns blew to sound the royal approach. It wasn't much of a sight, the line long, banners flapping haphazardly, the column made of light infantry, some loaded trucks and headed by their heavier Cavalry, the royal guard co-commanded by both Azura Thrym and her Canis riders, and Armillia and her knights. They were not cohesive.

"Murray," the human woman who headed the column mumbled as she passed, gold colored armor a bright blight to the eyes. Least there was some red on it to making it a little more forgivable. Armillia was at least making herself useful.

"You lot did a fantastic job I see," that was Azura mocking the ruined keep in sight that they had spent all day turning it into something remotely serviceable.

"Thanks wolf," Murray replied with a smile and a chuckle. Behind her was Charlie, he was splattered with a little red himself, the new weapon of his holstered, the Gambol. He seemed drained, most certainly not happy, eyes weary and not a word to say to anyone as they passed under the gate. The rest of the column broke apart into their regiments answering to whatever personal captain and in all rebuilding the city to better allow for a camp.

"He's in a good mood," Aka said to no one in a muffled voice, but Murray laughed all the same.

"Best of them. Come on let's see what we can do eh?"

Inside the palisade defenses the fort was over packed, the royal guard lining the walls, clearing debris from the grounds and fixing what the Taurus and Murray hadn't had the time to do so. The Kinsmen for the most part had all been ordered to reinforce the Leo camp, Murray didn't need to worry so much about defense with Charlie around. Without any guards, besides a few Taurus ones, the chiefs all pushed through into the keep. Ground floor was a foyer turned meeting hall. It was dusty and light poured in from holes in the stone ceilings made by cannon fire.

Charlie stood at the head of the table with a map, always was obsessed with maps he was. Behind him was a stained glass window, or half of one. Much of it was shattered on the floor, what wasn't showed the emblem of a broken snowflake and provided the much needed lighting for the map.

"Good day King Charles, I hope the fort is to your liking," Akagura started politely taking her seat. She was still in armor, the silk black kimono on her cut short and with added black plates of armor, her mask still tightly on, never taken off, red marks on white.

"I was hoping we could get it with a surrender, less damage." Charlie wasn't happy.

"Despite being caught by surprise, the Schnee were built up here, and hardy. Weiss was preparing for war as predicted, you were smart to attack while the envoy bought us time," Akagura was pleased by that plan, sort of trickery was her preferred method. Murray had cautioned for more tentative approach, but in the end it was ignored in favor of this bloody course. When Wilhelm died, Charlie made up his mind that peace was impossible, or Maledetta did, hard to separate the two.

"Where is the Queen, Charlie? I miss her compn'y," Murray asked in interest of her absence, this time taking a seat opposite of Akagura and her son. The Simian representative also sat next to Murray, an unfamiliar elder now that the chief's son was dead.

"As it turns out she's pregnant, least the doctors say so, decided it was best to go back and rule Fort Castle for the sake of her health and the prince or princess," Armillia answered for Charlie with the first happy smile to be had. She always loved her cousin the Queen. Charlie seemed more ambiguous, a little embarrassed which made Murray roar out a laugh.

"We need to celebrate!" this was fantastic news, despite his envy of Maledetta, Charlie was going to be a father and Murray already decided he was going to be the favorite uncle.

"Thank you Charlie, but unfortunately we need to focus, I promise we can celebrate soon. I plan to end this war within the year," Charlie had a smirk when he said that, and not surprising considering the audacity of that. A young Volpes sub chief whistled in shock.

"While that's an interesting aspiration, more realistic matters should be attended, the future child should be assigned Faunus godparents in case of -"

"Taurus, do not be so quick to kill me," Charlie gave an awkward chuckle before taking out a flask he dipped into a little too much lately, "but yes, I've already had it instructed that Azura is the godmother, she's a Faunus, I'm sure you have no complaints." Aside from it not being her, no the Taurus likely did not.

"Not to mention Maledetta is alive and well, it's not healthy to talk of their deaths," Armillia cut everyone off, the lone human commander was quite outspoken.

"But it is prudent," another chief suggested from the set.

"Regardless, we need to focus please!" Charlie cut everyone else out, setting up his pieces along the map of Vale. He was burning something fierce; Murray liked him best like that. "We've been so busy trying just to survive for the first time since the beginning we can actually think about winning this, making something of all this blood and killing. Maledetta has put our claim to the throne up to a few nobility that have thus far been neutral. Namely Icemarsh. They have the bulk of the Valen fleet in their harbor and have yet to side with anyone. If we take Castle White they promise, after we end some old border disputes between them and the Schnee, to side with us. That gives us a fleet. That ends this."

"Relying on humans is ill advised, we should split up into three armies, one army goes north and meets up with my clansmen and take Nördlichste, one can sit here and hold, and another can go south and take Ruthven. Weiss won't be able to mobilize against one army without abandoning the Castle White to attack from the other two. Low risk and we get even more territory." Akagaru countered completely cutting off Charlie; she had a habit of doing this, resisting his every action, especially when it came to humans. Their alliance was born out of mutual interest, but the ultimate goal for both leaders was something so alien from one another, that every meeting brought the risk of infighting as the days went by, infighting they couldn't preform.

"Let the king finish Taurus, show Charlie some respect!" Better she bad mad at Murray than him. Between them, Charlie was the one he wanted to back, he was the visionary, had real chance for a better Vale. The Taurus was a creature of war, what she would do once she won never really mattered. It was about punishing them however she could, least it seemed that way.

"So we get an extra castle or two, no men for it, nothing but territory we have to station and more ruins like this. Grimm are becoming a problem you know? Villages on the outer territories are asking for people to protect them, our armies are getting turned into chew toys and our traders won't lead caravans without massive armed guards. The longer this war goes on, the more negativity, more grimm. Ya want more grimm by all means waste time going after Ruthven." Azura Thrym was a huntress, her concern for the grimm a constant complaint, or over sight by her perspective. Murray had a hard time calling her wrong, though the wolf's reputation has been largely tarnished.

"It brings us no closer to ending the war, and that's what I'm focused on. I just want to go home, I think we all do. Do you not want to end the war Akagura?" Charlie was serious, leaned forward arms on the table for support. He was starting to get the act.

"I want a Free Faunus Vale of course Charles," She answered behind the mask. It was impossible to watch her, to see what she was feeling, if she felt at all. Murray wanted to tear the mask off himself.

"Then show me some faith please. You promised me an oath as part of our new Vale," Charlie spoke softly, as he was known to do, for a meek person he had such a fine control of himself, infinitely likeable and pleasant, Murray couldn't resist him for sure.

"Of course Charles, as you instructed we captured the fort."

"And you left it in ruins, we'll have to leave a garrison to deal with the grimm," Azura replied giving a glare to both sides of the table, Murray included.

"The losses involved in taking this fort without artillery would have outweighed whatever we lose to fortify the garrison here," the Taurus countered folding her arms over one another, a slight give to her guarded nature.

"Should have let me duel the old man, we could have least kept the damn door on its hinges," Murray mumbled in a laugh. He assumed Akagura tossed him a glare, the white bone mask was all that stared at him.

"Because we had such luck with duals yes." That counter, well timed as it was left a hiss and barely held in breaths. No one had anything to say, do maybe, as Azura stood straight up, knocking her chair away into the dust. Now that woman could give a hateful fucking stare, the Queen of it with her eyes that turned yellow in rage and scars that highlighted her tenacity.

"We're doing this now huh?" Charlie spoke up, taking just a second to swallow down something from a flask, a nasty habit he got into in the worst of days, "Fine then, we talk about this. Wilhelm, someone shot him, and whatever he knew about it he decided to spend the time trying to kill you, why?"

"What do you want to hear?" It sounded like a real question the way the Taurus said it.

"Wilhelm Schnee was murdered; did you have anything to do with it?" Charlie had no defining character in his speech, nothing that might have seemed angry or happy. No the only thing that he seemed was apprehensive a small quake in his hand telling Murray this was a conversation he was avoiding.

"Yes," the Taurus replied. No one even moved when she said it for how casually and easily the words left her lips. It was only a second later people began to react. Guards readied themselves, Chiefs stood up straight, unable to calmly ignore that. Some of the others sat still and Aka, most awkwardly of all put his hand to the sword before his mother swatted it. "Of course I did."

"You murdered him," Charlie said as if clarifying something.

"I didn't murder anyone; he was trying to murder me if anything." Everyone seemed aghast, looking at her with some level of horror or judgment, the few that didn't were either watching the guards or looking down at their hands of guilt. "You let the man insult you, ruined the reputation of our best warrior-"

"He cheated, there was ice in the mud," Azura defended, though Murray wasn't sure if he believed her.

"To top that he should have died anyway for cheating in a duel," a pause of silence hung in the air as people looked for one of the two of them to say something, "I couldn't allow him to come back and run his own inquisition. He could have pinned any of us in this delusional conspiracy of his."

"Are you involved in the murder of Wernher Schnee," Charlie added with another accusation.

"Why would I be?" Not an answer.

"Akagura you had no right to supersede my authority and escalate this crisis-"

"What authority?" she interrupted completely cutting off Charlie's authority. "Your royal title isn't real Charles;

this whole thing is nothing more than an agreement of convenience. You can't complete any of this without me or mine. We put that crown on your head, ill-fitting as it is, and if you try something we'll just take it off. Now do you want to go back to our little farce nicely or do you need to throw a tantrum?"

Azura cracked into motion, knocking the maps away in her forceful fling forward. Aka, the young fool, got in her path trying to pull his weapon free. He didn't stand a chance. The wolf grabbed the kids head and slammed it so hard against the table, his horn fractured on the now splintered wooden edge. Lad never cried, but he was groaning, blood seeping from the horn. It was as shattered as Azura's reputation had been in recent weeks.

"Stop!" Charlie shouted and the motion ceased. Aka was still curled up moaning on the floor, Azura standing a behemoth in front of Akagura more than a head shorter, the wolf's chest nearly pressed into the white of the Taurus' face. The huntress was quaking in fury, barely chained down by her friend's words. She was so close, so close to getting a fight that had built up to this moment.

"Give me an excuse to break you," the huntress growled, eyes amber and semblance ready, the wolf in her all out.

"Don't worry; I'm done playing with your cat." No one else seemed to hear that. No one besides Murray and Azura.

"We are done for today. Everyone return to your camps, prepare orders to mobilize after breakfast tomorrow. We'll have a morning briefing on our next engagement against Weiss understood?"

"I understand plenty Charles, Have a good night King," Akagaru made little noise walking away, not bothering to pick up her son who relied on one of their guards to pull him up. The mysterious woman walked out, her black kimono vibrant in flowing as she stepped out of the decaying structure.

Murray knew it would have caused a lot of blood, but all things that followed considered, he wished Azura had broken her neck.

* * *

><p>"Without a trace Charlie."<p>

"I see." The Faunus King was back in his place that morning. Sitting this time, not standing. He was hunched over, like a man that had spent a day working the plow, but it was still just morning. Sun wasn't even out. He had a drink in his hand, but this time Murray would be remiss not to join him in one.

The Taurus had snuck out in the night. Not just her, her army too, all the arms they collected and even the prisoners. More than their lion's share of the food and horses. They made up a bulk of the heavy cavalry, much of their mobile armor, their most disciplined fighters. Near a third of their numbers. Too much.

"I'm sorry King Charles, we did not know until morning," one of the other chiefs meekly offered to explain their failure. No one knew until the only remaining Taurus whom stayed only to inform them of the "White Bull's" plan to liberate Nördlichste and "inspire" King Charles to head to Ruthven.

"Alright, we need to move. Low supplies means we need to go twice as fast before stock starts becoming a problem. We can raid Riverpass on our way to Castle White."

"Charlie, you don't mean to don't mean to be doing this, not really. I've never lead you astray, but lad without the Taurus, we can't beat the snow bitch," Murray tried to plead with amusement, but Charlie was not amused, he was so angry, small, sad. It was a painful thing to see.

"I have a plan. Riverpass is where Weiss will meet us. Town has the largest bridge up the river. Only people on horseback can push through White river, even if it's low right now. It's situated between two plateaus, perfect for artillery. A terrible place for us to go. We still outnumber her easily three to one, we have much higher moral and we have Armillia." Charles may have been tired, but a map was in front of him, the chess pieces laid out. White Bishops on the plateaus looking over the town, both rooks on the bridge, knights on opposite sides of the plateaus, and every single pawn on the west side of the river bank Queen right in the town center. "The bridge will be the logical place to attack, her strongest defenders, a band of Mistralian mercenaries, will hold it. Murray, your people were kicked out of Mistral. Want revenge?"

"Yes lad, but listen-" He placed the black bishops on the bridge, the Leo soldiers.

"We'll need to have someone assault the river too, make some boats, lead with someone fierce. Azura I can count on you?"

"I'm where you need me Charles." A Black Queen with black rooks was placed right on the river.

"Charlie, I'm sorry lad, but let's hold on-"

"Light infantry will of course cover the center; we need to look as big as we are." Pawns lined their side of the bank, ready to move into any position needed, or protect the black King on his position, far back left away from the bridge.

"We'll have what remains of the leftover Taurus and light armor commit to an attack on the right flank. Tie up people there, make them think we're going for the right hand Plateau. A Feint." A lone two pawns went right and locked the White knights.

"Charlie, if we do this, and I'm saying we shouldn't, but if we do listen to me lad, we need to do something else, we can't just send wave after wave, ya know that right?" Murray leaned in, trying to reason now with the man he had grown to love. A good man. "Least put your camp and guns by the bridge, choose one path to break, not all these little games." Charles didn't seem to be listening, his right hand toying with a black knight piece. Something reached him though, his amber eyes looking up at the old Leo, tired as he had to be.

"Friend you have to trust me. I've got a plan. We have a plan. All my life people have been suffering while I wait for the right time, while I wait till I'm pinned and have no other choice. I've had enough horrible things. We break them here and it's finally over. I'll have an army and a navy, we can march the army south, meet the confederates heading north and pin Sir Arc, I can take Icemarsh Navy and sail right into Vale. We can finally end all of this nightmare. I just have to once in my life not pick the desperately safe option to do it. So I will, years too late for Lucia, but I got to this time Murray, I can't do with without you," the young king was in tears, but alive in a way he had not been all morning, "We take Castle White, I promise I'll make you its Lord, Murray I will. We'll invite the Taurus back, say we need them, need her. She'll come to cause I'm meek just like she says, and when she does I'll have her put to floor and in front of the gods and Schnee alike, I'll cut her fucking head off for all the murder she's caused us!"

The man that was acting like a king for the first time in his life, did so with black knight piece in his hand, staring at it with the hateful intensity, Armillia's knights, the odd Ace, untested and dubious in worth.

"Armillia, can I trust you? Trust a human?"

"Humans? I wouldn't, I don't even like your kind, but a knight loyal to her Queen. Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>Weiss the Lord of White Castle<strong>

"Upper left corner ma'am" The scout exclaimed nervously, the young girl likely never met a noble before, or a wealthy woman, or a general either. It was her lucky day.

"Yes let me see," Weiss mumbled politely, eyes locked through the looking glass atop the plateau tower, one fixed in the artillery base. She saw exactly what she hoped, a quivering sight from across the river. As dusk was coming tonight the sign rose in its place. An Airship with a massive black flame lotus, all within a crown of gold. The king was coming, coming to her spot, the plan was on and the battle to decide history was here. Wilhelm's killer was coming for her now and a river was all that separated her from them.

For the first time in weeks Weiss was calm, heart steady despite the crossroad approaching. It was finally time. Charles had not disappointed and now the siren played. It was time to get ready. One way or another it would be their first and only dance together.

***** Well sorry everyone for the late response! I took October off for the most part to work on a birthday gift for a friend, as well as celebrate my birthday as well as preparing for National Novel Writing Month where I will be working on my first original novel which if your at all interested you should check out my mirrored account on fictionpress when the first chapter is done.**

**Other than that I just want to thank TCR for the edits and tell you all congrats! We're 75% done with AV, things are going to start wrapping up!**


	16. Chapter 16: Long Live the King

**Chapter 16: Long Live the King**

**Lord Weiss Schnee the Skinner**

Envelopes, six in each hand, they felt heavy, burdened by plots and gambits, each different in nature. Some hopeful, others desperate. Each set were paths into a dark mist, but each set forth towards different goals. Choices defined leadership, the sole purpose of a lord was to decide. This though, this was not her choice, if it was it would be so simple, between these two roads the action could only be based on the words of one person, a woman weaved from red and bronze. She was coming now, as well as the others.

This hilltop mill was converted into a forward command, its hearth burning bright, casting the scattered maps that decorated table tops in orange, would be the war room for what would be Weiss' definitive work, her legacy, regardless of how it came out. That lack of agency annoyed her, the heat in the room not strong enough to dispel the toxic mixture of excitement and anxiousness, less about the battle and more, more about what Thetis would choose once put under the hot coals.

When the door swung open, its wooden frame slamming against the mill door, cold air came flooding in from the outside. It was the end of fall, winter was starting in just a week or so, time had marched on so quickly, the autumn quickly approached a close and now when the season rains continued into night it was snow, the little white beads would dissipate in the morning, but as a woman whose flag was a snowflake this was a good omen.

"My Lord, I'm present," the voice was her uncle's the Warden of Vermillion, Master of the Vermillion Sentinels, leader of the rival branch of the family. He was actually Weiss' father's cousin, but to them Uncle was Uncle. An old man with short and tight cut white hair, silver lost its healthy glow with time. His beard was a maintained grey that help foster the hard stoic look he always tried to hold, he was the kind of man Weiss feared Friedrich would become. Yet she enjoyed him, if only for his earnestness.

"I thought you would be Thetis, she is usually the first one. Good to see you Uncle." As was best, he was dressed for battle, saber on his left hip and a dust powered dragoon hanging off his right, the silver armor chest plate they wore with the red snowflake cloak. Tonight would be the night for sure; final battle lines were being formed, this last meeting to decide where.

"I rushed, hoping to catch you alone my Lord."

"Very scandalous Uncle," Weiss joked, noticing that the Warden did not smile, "only a jest."

"It's that sort of behavior I mean to question, not in front of the others, but I fear you are making a mistake with this mercenary." Uncle was always said exactly what he felt, making him a rather unpopular man with Otto whom cared little for what anyone thought about anything. Weiss however, valued this, though she never admitted it, could never be so obviously aloof a lord. "I understand you want to follow your heart, believe me I do, but young love almost undid my branch of the family."

A familiar story, perhaps warped by what seemed like a millennia of retelling, but an important one for sure. Perhaps this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Weiss, Weiss, Weiss.

With such an exhausted smile, one that brimmed with a deep selfish cleverness, the Lord of Castle White turned to her Uncle and in near whisper her answer lay in a single story, "and it made mine."

"It's five hundred years too late for this argument my Lord. For what it's worth, I wish you well." There was no life line, both of them hit the end of any argument, Uncle took his place over by his niece's side, looking over the maps, focusing on the battle. His eyes were not the pure pools of blue, instead tinted with the reddish hue formed by a family divided for centuries.

"Thanks Uncle," Weiss whispered. Hands clenching the table and envelopes, she knew this might have had an audience, but it didn't matter. The door was still open and one by one they came. Captain of the Castle White forces came in followed by Thetis, her completely out of breath, she had ran from some distant camp Weiss was sure, armed in bronze from head to toe, laced in furs for warmth. The Lord had bought it as a present, a make-up gift, and she wore it, proudly even.

Behind her was Rollo, same as always with his great hammer, tossing an apple in his hand. Another captain came, she was the Warden of Avarice and lead their forces, last was Russell, the cool headed mercenary in fur laced steel, armed with little more than a knife strapped to his black leather bracers. Only the most mobile and elite followed Weiss on this gambit on White river, the slow moving infantry and irregulars stayed with Friedrich and insured no one could take their home by surprise, as well as guarantee a fight in this town, a bottleneck that suited her tactical schemes. Their numbers were a fraction of the Faunus, but they were of superior arms and training. This was do-able.

"Gentlemen and Ladies, tonight's the night, I can feel it. Before I give you your orders, it's important I know one thing," Weiss' voice was so firm as she spoke, though she wanted to stutter, she looked up straight at Thetis, though she wanted to look elsewhere, and continued despite wanting nothing more than to speak not a word more "Thetis, there is no more stalling, one last time, I ask you, in front of gods and everyone, will you allow me to annul your marriage and be with me. Wed me or not I don't care, just be with me. Choose."

"Weiss-my lord this is rather, I don't know if I can. Can we please discuss this after?" the beautiful Mistralian pleaded, eyes betraying the truth behind them, green disks that were too scared, too indecisive, a warrior and lover's courage were unrelated.

"We've been circling this for weeks. Love me or leave me, but I will not be your plaything Thetis." Weiss could feel the room thicken with displeasure, Rollo was the only one who seemed excited to be here, lover of drama he was, the others were either annoyed, disgusted or felt awkward. Weiss needed their eyes though, the pressure trapped Thetis, would force her to decide.

"I, Weiss I love you please-"

"It's a yes or no. There is nothing in between," Weiss' voice was raised, her noble tone she used with diplomats and soldiers, the colder more declarative Weiss, less the gentle her that played with Friedrich, that held the Mistralian girl in her arms and brushed the scar she had gently with a finger. That Weiss had failed time and again, so the warrior spoke, not the lover.

"I, I can't abandoned him. He's going to be a father, I just-" Thetis didn't cry; Weiss didn't know if she could, a rock that always seemed to smile. She was so beautiful, even now as she denied Weiss, short red bangs trying so hard to shield her eyes from this mess, she was beautiful.

"Say no," Weiss demanded. There would be nothing left to the uncertain.

"No," Thetis whispered, barely loud enough over the cracking sound of the fire. It was, however, like a scream inside the halls of the young Lord's mind. It reverberated so deeply in her, and the columns of support for the heart snap, the tumbling feeling inside her stomach was proof of that.

"Thank you," was the only fair reply. In a way Weiss was set free to decide on her own now, though the decision was not anything she wanted. The papers in her hand, one set of envelopes, t the others would never see the light of day, a path denied, they were tossed gently in the fire. Burned as was the future they were designed to architect. "There is no turning back from here; our course is locked in, our fate decided. In each of these envelopes are the specifics of your orders. In general, Thetis, you and your band will hold the bridge, it's suited to your fighting styles. Hold it. Rollo, you will support them. Russell you will be our right flank, if they try sneaking cavalry over the river ride them down. Uncle, you will protect our rear with the best of your sentinels, no matter what we need to be able to retreat if I fire off a snowflake flare. Your son and the remainder of your sentinels will protect the left bank, if the Taurus are with the black cat, it's where I would use his strongest cavalry. The White Castle rifles and Avarice soldiers will hold the town and river bank, if they row soldiers across gun them down. We have plenty of artillery on the left plateau, our newest rocket emplacements on the right. So long as these remain safe we can bomb them into submission. Understood?"

No one argued, no one suggested or complained, they knew better than to do so. Most nodded, Thetis was not inclined to look at Weiss nor speak to her, she was instead fixated on her feet, hair hiding her face. Part of the young noble woman wanted her lover to die today, pay for hurting her. In the end though, she made sure in the plan she would survive. Rollo would save her, and Weiss could burn herself for her sentimentality. She would not be this plan's sacrifice.

"To your stations and remember what they did to my brother!" Weiss shouted, really just wanting them to leave. They did, all scurrying out like mice, but two whom she least wanted to speak to. Uncle quietly stood, studying his assigned orders, the pamphlet that contained the greater specifics, limiting what the left hand knew about the right, but the other did not. Thetis stayed, not looking up, not even grabbing the envelope from the table, though her orders were simple enough. She just wouldn't leave.

"Mrs. Nikos why are you here? You have orders," Weiss asked, avoiding her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just want to talk." Thetis had a soft voice by nature, but it always had strength to it; it made Weiss think that this girl would one day be a great mother, but not for Weiss' children.

"You don't love me. You came for my money, now go do what I pay for. It wasn't to fuck me if you're confused," Weiss slipped out the last part with venom dripping from the words. She didn't mean to yell, but every second Thetis stood there, resolve faded quickly. For the good of both of them, the color in this bleak autumn turned away and walked out into the soft falling snow.

"Uncle, don't you need to go to your sentinels?"

"I'm the rear guard, I'm sure I have a few more minutes to overview your orders. You seem quite adamant we be prepared for a retreat," he said plainly, a question masked as an observation.

"It's likely. We are heavily outnumbered," Weiss half lied, hoping he was not reading too much into her plan. It was the only way.

"These rockets, Wernher's weapons, what are they?" He asked, changing subject.

"Projectiles, they fly up, fall back down, and explode with whatever dust shell you want. He thought it was a great device for eliminating out big herds of grimm. I've retrofitted them for my needs." He nodded after hearing that, though he likely did not understand Weiss only knew their power after seeing them test fire. The Atlas government ordered hundreds. They would have to wait.

"What about the deployment tubes, the prototype meant for beacon. Why are they loaded up with the rockets?" This was an accusation.

"Loaded with dust, makeshift rockets. Uncle what are you getting at?"

"Weiss, don't do this. Be my niece and not my Lord for one second."

"In your envelope, there is a letter to Friedrich, please promise me it gets to him. You're dismissed."

"Good luck. You have my respect Weiss, and my son's." Thetis had left, soon uncle followed, bathed in orange light, it was dimming, the fire dying, the plan was beginning.

* * *

><p>The lights of both sides smeared the banks of the White River in a swarm of torch light and lamps for as far as anyone could see. Night battles were like that, both sides trying to see anything in the mist of night, worsened by the sprinkling snow drops that were adding a cutting chill onto everything, tormenting everyone and turning the sky a grey pitch. The battle started with a charge. The Faunus lion known as the Fang charged the bridge with his best, clashing with Thetis' band of Mistralian elite. Both sides fought hard, but neither made ground and quickly pulled back to reform. In the meantime the river glowed with life as make shift rafts began to pull off the Faunus held bank towards the town. Gunfire shredded them, an artillery shell alone tore boats asunder, flaming bits of wood and bodies into the air.<p>

It was those cannons that supplied the real vibrant sort of life to this dreary battle. They burst against the earth in glowing red flames, flashes of blue ice from frost hells, torrents of lightning from the dust infused bolts that illuminated swarms of Faunus along the beach. They had their own shells to returned, standard force dust, they cracked against the plateaus and buildings, harassing the dug in fighters and the worst came from the blimp above. One had blown apart the mill, only a few feet from where Weiss had observed the early moments of her battle. It crumbled behind her, force rattling her teeth as it crumbled, further burning the ash of what could have been. It was easy to understand why the King of Atlas had _A King's Final And Finest Argument_, engraved on every artillery piece in the royal army.

The real fight had yet to start, rockets not unleashed, not the right time. A dud was propelled every few seconds to get the aim, but even then she held it. The Faunus forces needed to move up, the line between the false King's camp and the river bank needed to be packed, packed with their best. It was their kill-zone. The reckoning.

Soon enough it was time. Between the mill's crumbling and the rockets' readying, Thetis was attacked by this chief Murray again, this time with higher losses for both sides though that meant less to the Faunus than to her. Thetis remained unharmed according to her report. Weiss' heart betrayed her and cried internally from joy. Russell identified human attackers, but only scattered snipers he had to bunker down for. Weiss' cousin, the wardens son, claimed little Taurus presence on his flank, but remained in case it was a trick. Weiss hoped it wasn't, that flank was a natural weak point for her defense. The river was packed with more fighters than they had guns to fire, but the rapids delayed the rafts for a moment. So far things held, but it was fragile stability and getting worse, something had to break them before it. The Lord of White Castle knew now was the time.

When the first rocket fired, it streamed into the air with red streaks of flame following as it spread its way into the sky, deep into the night air, like nothing ever seen before, it was a sight unlike the hellstorm of traditional artillery. A twisting fire dart that seemed innocent even; a firework. Then burst apart in air, splitting into separate shells that flung into the earth with such a shocking force, the wave of sound and energy could shatter those without the art of Aura.

That was the first, one bust and near a hundred more were, bolts of fire, ice, lightning, force, all manner of hell and fury that shattered with great light, a wave of destruction that reaped a path of flame down the line. A knife of rockets that split this Faunus force down the center, striking its heart, far longer ranged than any cannon, cracking the earth in one volley, frosting it in another, torching it the third, the blaze bring light to this faunus army, bodies burned and the world could see them, there was no hiding in the dark for these animals.

The final volley, it brought nothing. Merely prototypes, these 'improvised weapons' originally meant to deliver supplies to Beacon students. They crashed into the now craters that made up the former Faunus center line, none exploded, all smokes, these massive canisters, duds in the eyes of the artillery commanders that must have watched as swafts of flame spread through the center. These containers brought with them no brimstone or blizzards, but what they would undoubtedly remember as the devil.

It brought them their reckoning. It brought them Weiss.

Smoke had not cleared by the time she escaped her canister, the air was thick with ash and snow. Heat was all around as those who were not killed in the volleys moaned, their ruined bodies scattered about. Many survived, at least partly. Reduced to frightened animals looking for sense and limbs in this field of fire.

One such fool stumbled into the smoke pulsing off Weiss' supply drop.

"Hello there," she whispered, two of her favorite revolving rifle swords in hand, their long barrels ending at the rapier like blade point, especially around her special semblance. The faunus man, had but a moment to turn around before the round entered his chest, Weiss' eyes lit up red, and his body too burst apart into the flames of dust in his chest. More noticed her after that, more to meet their ruin by Gänseblümchen and Tulpe, their names etched into their twin barrels. The few who could stand up to her did not last a moment, their bodies burst like flares to the real target. A monster she needed to trap in this field of flames and fallen men. As the snow drifted down, she could hear it, the devil's roar. The wolf was coming.

And it did.

The mass of the famed wolf of Fort Castle came to view charging at her, this breathing creature of fused black iron, the symbol of her animal carved into the blue accents, helmet shaped after the head of a snarling cousin of hers. There was only a split second before seeing her, this being running on all fours, tower shield slung over her back, sword, near the size of Weiss herself, lodged in the beasts teeth, came too close simply to be shot down like a wild dog. Monster pounced up into a twirl, dropping the sword into both of her hands; a woman impossibly sized slamming down with all the force of a cannon ball.

Weiss did not block, such a move was for an idiot; she kicked back, the great sword peeling the air around her as it crashed into the earth. One could feel the monster land, and Weiss knew why the world suddenly spoke of this Faunus ace. Didn't matter, Weiss was the Queen of knights, and she was an animal. This match was over.

While the beast known as Azura roared, dragging her sword around, cutting open Remnant without a care, she spun the blade for another strike, losing none of her body's momentum. Weiss did not step back but ducked, aiming Tulpe up to fire point blank.

Yet the monster, its body moved to dodge, helmet taking the round and flying off, warping as her semblance permanently altered its facade almost to match its master. Weiss could see her face now, this wolf, and its scarred glory was terrifying to any weaker person, those amber eyes, they burned hotter than any flying rocket, so hot it would burn into your memory forever. She was not afraid of Weiss' even as the helmet burst behind her. Azura swung again, there was no escaping the length of that weapon with a leap. Instead desperation.

Her other rifle free and pointed to the floor she fired, the white force dust round busting apart the floor and sending them both flying with a wave of energy. Weiss, twirled herself landing in mud, and despite the meters of space between them, Azura was charging again shield up and sword prepared to launch off the shoulder it rested on. Weiss opened fire, her rounds spreading as they lodged themselves in her tower shield, the glyphs that formed enveloping its ancient face and splitting it apart into vibrant shades of blue ice, melting red shards, and all manner of particles. Yet the wolf still charged. Unbound and unwilling to stop. Weiss jumped out the way, the sword slamming down right in front of her, the rune glowing, she still felt the emanating energy beating into Weiss and draining her aura. This sword cut through hunters, and she could feel it.

They continued their dance, Weiss would fire shots and Azura would swing with her sword like one cursed with a berserking form of madness. It was the most heightened fight in all the years Weiss had lived, not even the duels with Thetis that first set her heart aflame, this was different. It was primordial. She wondered if this was the feeling hunters and huntresses felt fighting their final grimm, knowing anything could dislodge either of them from the living world. She was so sad to put an end to it.

Using the floor firing trick again, knowing it would separate them just enough, she pulled back the proper uniformed sleeve of hers to see the radio wire device Wernher had made. It was one switch, only needed one, there was no turning around, only when to hit it. Soon others would come, and despite how much she longed to be the knight that put Azura Thrym, the big bad wolf, down, she was needed elsewhere. The trap was laid. It was time to pull it. A flip of a switch and the wolf charged and the final volley, the duds, activated.

It started with smoke, but more accurately steam. Clouds of the warm sticky air burst from every container, near a hundred rockets poured out. In that mist the berserking monster swung around madly, she was chasing it now, the blue eyes that hid in the grey mist of that cold night. How they must have haunted her as she could see it, see it almost glow. In truth they did glow, bright blue lights, the deep shine of unnatural energy. A roar from the mist, and where the blue eyes ended, the Schnee ingenuity emerged. Massive, its gears and metal body shifting its clockwork limbs as it slammed an axe so hard against Azura's sword her body was tossed back, sliding against the mud and muck, stopping only to see their reckoning. Clockwork end, the river bank, all the way to the camp, all of was roaring at once, creaking as the animatronic drones stood, taller in size to three mean, heads like metal skulls, internal fires glowing, some blue some red, some royal purple and deep greens. They were endless, they were fury and as the first charged her, as its axe slammed down, and by narrowest margins, the wolf escaped, even as she lodged her sword into the gears and body of her opposition, ninety nine more stood tall. One tallest of the lot, spear in hand as Weiss climbed on it. She was ready, ready to climb toward the heart of the camp; she was coming for him, for the king. The prototype, the iron hunter, tossed its spear. Whatever hope Azura had of stopping her was gone. Each of these mechanical monsters was a hunter onto itself. In the heart of this Faunus armor, its center, now a field of heroes.

When she landed, the spear piercing the earth, she hopped onto her foot steady, she had time to reload her canisters as nothing was beside her aside carnage and fire. The royal guard so desperately fighting back as these massive, albeit imperfect creatures crush them down. Above ash and snow fell as the Gatling gun equipped models began shooting down the airship, the proud black lotus and crown burst into flames, though the wolf remained as it dropped from the sky.

Wernher's death had been the death of them, his creations, though meant to kill grimm, meant to save the world, would drown them in snow and as the last breath tore at their lungs, as they feed their bodies to Remnant, the depth of their arrogance would be made known. Schnee blood was not for them to take and as Weiss fired her flare, the bright light speeding upwards into the sky, a firework snowflake in the heart of the faunus horde, the retreat was not sounded in defeat, it was the bait being let go.

Charles was here, and for the murder of Werner, for the murder of Wilhem, for the murder of Otto, for the murder of all the hopes and dreams she had, Weiss would hang his bloody corpse from the fucking wreckage of this town.

* * *

><p><strong>The King<strong>

"Get down Nimh!" Charles called out to one of the few royal guards that survived the initial shelling. The long range rocket batteries, though they had been seen in minor forms before, had never been used in such a precise and intense shelling. The campsite placed opposite the left plateau was caught dead center by the blast. All the supplies and tents were torched and though many came to save those who survived and the quickly prepared bunker had saved Charles and his main aides, nothing prepared them for what was contained in the duds. Mechanical creatures, like skeletons, more advanced than spider tanks and unmanned were emerging from everywhere. They wiped out most before they could even fathom what was happening, even experienced hunters were crushed by the might of these skeleton clockwork giants. Now he could see just Nimh that sat prepared to fight, her fox ears torched by the rocket flames. Others groaned dying on the floor and some more were sent off to find help, the rest had fallen in a blink.

Charles could do little but dent them, relying on a simple trick. He sent a shadow copy of himself running right onto the chest of the main gunner model, its partner, a fatter beast holding an axe, spun around bashed the shadow, cleaving into the other machine as well, they were stupid as it were, and in that regard Charles cleverness paid off. It was do-able; he could win.

"I got this!" Nimh shouted firing her crossbow, tip strapped to dust dynamite. The new royal guard was a crack show with that bow and the dynamite lodged itself into the false neck of the machine, a patch of iron and gears. When it went off) the head and neck burst apart, and though not dead it stood motionless, unable to see targets, the machine simply, stopped.

"That's all of them for no-" time slowed, and Charles looked on, hidden behind a turned over cart as Nimh's shoulder took a stray bullet. Non-lethal, but a light shined, a glyph spread across her body, symbols dancing a bright blue across her face, a brilliant array that he had never seen before. Then, at the most intense and beautiful, as Nimh's tears of pain barely managed to form, her body burst violently, the half of her torso, most of her head ruptured in blue ice, the type only formed by dust. Blood dripped everywhere, even on to Charles' black leather armor, he could feel it's warmth on his ears and watched at the leftovers, no true body, dropped onto the ground, dead forever.

"Charles, you bastard animal! Face me! Come out from behind there!" Charles wanted to move, needed to change spots. Clones, clones could go in every direction, and he would move as soon as one the voice, whomever she was, shot. Even that was ruined, flares of light, so many, were tossed around him and his shadow dwindled to nothing, a mere figment, no amount of aura could summon his image. He was dead. "Don't think I don't know your trick, I've come to kill you murderer! Fight me!"

His chest pounded to the point of pain, lungs seemed to stop, the ice of the air seeped into his mind and he could not close his eyes. He wanted to scream, wanted someone now, he needed an Azura, needed a shadow, needed an old man with a pickaxe. He needed to be saved. Stop, he wanted to scream, please stop.

_No stop, no stop! _

A horrible memory, the truest failure. Inaction that tormented his mind and the voice that wanted to scream stop was no longer his. Lucia was begging, begging the world to stop and he would not move. Centuries old fear turned to anger, so much hate, he would not die like cattle, he would not watch her crawl from the alley, watch her hang from the ceiling, he couldn't do it. He couldn't. It was never about justice, it didn't motivate him to murder his first guard, it did not lead him to catching Guido, it did not give him the strength to capture princes, to destroy armies, build nations, let innocent men be murdered. Rage did it, rage against the dying of the light, rage against the downing of his kin. Rage against a world that would not let him live, not let him see Lucia smile ever again, one that forced Azura to fight since she was just a fucking little girl, rage against the monsters that made him quake in the dark. There were no moral grounds, there was nothing, but rage against death. Refusal. He would win, there was no other choice, rage against the dying of the light. In tears he knew how Azura crushed so many lives.

He roared, for what roar a king like him could do, the small man he was could no longer live in this place, a gentler world Charles was robbed from him as it was for all of them. Charles, charged as a king of the Faunus, sword raised, but not blindly. Faunus were only half animal. He grabbed a flare, though it burned him, and threw it with everything he had, it's searing light blinded the woman who was so adamant about killing him, the lord of White Castle herself, Weiss Schnee. Forced to smack the flare out of the air with one rifle-sword to be able to see enough to shout it provided nary any more dark than a hot summer day but it was enough, a clone formed just a little ahead of him, its shadow bursting into lighting, the round that struck it hit close enough to leave burns on Charles, but also so close that a lightning bolt struck the barrel of her gun as well, the force knocking it out of her hands. They both were down to one weapon, and Charles went for what he knew, the basic slash of a sword. Weiss was a knight trained from birth, there was no beating her in a sword fight, the saber of her rifle form blocked and disarmed, a swift motion that sent the black sword shroud flying. He to her eyes was without a weapon, she would shoot or stab him, it didn't matter, but she paid no mind to the chain that connected his hand to the shroud.

She had no idea what he could do.

It twisted into a sickle with but a pull, the mechanisms automatic, the blade reshaped without Weiss ever noticing, she raised her gun, pulled back the hammer and charles pulled with all his might.

Had it not been for a glint, perhaps a tell on his face or the reflection of her sword, the sickle would have dislodged her head from her body, but she was too skilled for that. With a snap she ducked and the shroud snagged on her weapon, and with the strength of every shitty memory, of every day that being a faunus felt like being dead, he pulled it loose from her hands, no gun meant no semblance. All advantages were on him. He flipped it back to sword and struck, but Weiss was quick, those blue devil eyes watched his hand and in one swift move she gripped his wrist with far more strength than he had in both his arms. She swung with her other arm and Charles let his inner beast take over, taking the strike he bit down right on the wrist, teeth sinking in as deep as he could, not damaging, but enough to give him a chance, his free hand grabbed his knife, thin little skinning blade, and put it right into her shoulder.

Weiss screamed, but never let up the strength, beginning to overpower him, a swift kick that knocked the air out of him was delivered right to the sides by her left leg. Involuntarily he released his jaw and freed her to do one trick he hadn't even considered, grasping just a few loose rounds from her pocket she tossed them, her semblance lighting up the thin air between them and blinded him for just a moment, free she bolted, right for her gun. Charles switched the shroud to the fire dust launcher and pulled the trigger wildly. It's shots struck around her long before he could see, the scream she made said one hit her, but as sight returned to him, he could see her, fire still torching her shoulder, aiming. Both had guns, both were aimed, all that mattered was who pulled the trigger as the world around them dissipated, as snow fell to the ground, Charles fired first.

She never even managed to pull the trigger.

She was laughing to hard.

Charles was on fire.

Charles was burning.

The gun burst from the magazine, the hot chunks of fire dust scorched into the right side of his body and all he could do was scream as he fell. There wasn't shroud anymore, wasn't even a fight, there was just the fire as it burned, burned so bad. He was crying now, so much pain. It hurt.

"Wernher got you from the fucking grave!" Charles couldn't think. The name didn't matter, as he crawled around on them mud, he needed to put it out.

"Wilhelm never had the gun fixed?! We had the plans and everything, but he never bothered! I can't believe it, that bastard must have wanted to let the prince have an accident! They both got you!" She laughed. Charles couldn't think long enough to understand. The fire was gone now, but his body still hurt so bad. He wanted Azura, wanted Lucia, wanted his mother. Where was everyone, where was he, it hurt.

"Turn around murderer!" Charles was kicked, but the pain from the burns was too intense, he could smell it now, it smelt so wretched. He could feel the pain making him want to throw up. Why wasn't he?

"No!" Did he scream that? He couldn't think, a horrible pain struck his shoulder, eyes opened to Weiss on top of him. He knew it was her sword, it pinned his good arm. He could not move. The pain was intense, but he could remember, this was a battle, this was dying.

"You ruined my life, you killed my family, you are an animal!" Weiss pulled the skinning knife from her shoulder, a thin sharp place, meant for taking the hide off a caribou, but now she held it instead, it hurt. "You monster!" She was laughing, she was crying, she was cutting. First the face, the burns dulled him so bad he did not feel it till the brisk air swept over his exposed wound.

"Long live the King eh? There is no king here, only animals and me!" The blade spread over his neck, and warmth poured out, suddenly he was cold, and the steam and heat from his body was leaving him, as was the pain, as was his mind. Things slowed down. Lucia, Maledetta, Azura...he had children, or would?

"Azura please...help," he did not know if he whispered it or not, though he knew he tried. His vision became so dark, Weiss was all there was, her laughing, her crying, nothing stopped it, even when he could see an arrow strike her shoulder. Then came the dark.

*** **Charles the Black Cat, named after The Bonnie Prince Charlie, or Prince Charles,** **leader of the second Jacobite rebellion, his overconfidence in the French allies and under confidence in the commanders of his Scottish-kin, as well as drinking ended his hopes of the British throne.**

**Thank you for reading so far, this chapter is one I had planned for a long time, and got me a little emotional writing, I hope it did the same to you in the best of ways. The fights are a little ehh and short, but I'm not a great fight choreographer**

**Wanna say thanks again to Kuri for giving me permission to pseudo-canonize WRoV into the Vale series, totally based off long shot predictions for that series, but it's amazing check it out and to TCR for editing. If this comes out before Choice, it's finished, just being edited.**


	17. Chapter 17: He Was Loved

**Chapter 17: He Was Loved**

**Azura Thrym, the weeping wolf**

"It's ugly," Amarilla, her voice was an unwelcome addition to an otherwise peaceful scene. Before her arrival there was such little sound, a gently whipping wind alone that slid through the mostly empty trees devoid of leaves, mostly dead or dripping in blood reds and rustic oranges. The life here was mostly flowers, daisies, nightshade, and winter wildflowers that bloomed in series of different colors. There was little here to suggest human or faunus hands had ever touched it, a purposeful distance away from Fort Castle, and the neighboring farm land and Faunus villages. It was a place where one might catch a beowolf alone and strangely docile, where deer stumbled afraid of hunters both animal and humanoid. Still it was scarred in what to Azura supposed was beautiful to only faunus sensibilities.

"It's a tombstone. It's not supposed to be pretty," Azura responded, not bothering to look back at her. She stood by the massive marker, a monolith of stone upright with faunus runes carved into it, resembling what was supposed to be Charles' name, though it was not something intended to be transcribed into the dead language. It had little likeness to anything, barely looked unique. More noticeable to it was the mass of weapons. Spears propping out of the grass like poles, line after line of swords and axes, some crusted with rust, soon to be consumed by grasses. Some were long rifles, propped up by their bayonets or buried by their stocks. It went on for a long distance, a traditional gift to a king or queen when they died. Canis promised them their swords, they got to keep them. A Waste, yet oddly beautiful in a decrepit way.

"Should be in the Fort Castle Crypt, with a statue of him, tradition and such," Amarilla had heavy footsteps, her boots caving the floor as she stepped. She wanted him to be put away in a casket, some keep cave, or whatever it is they did. Azura didn't care. This was alright, despite not leaving her happy. Better in the trees. He was a game hunter after all, always was more that than a king.

"They'll just knock it down, better in the woods." Defacers were also an issue, this whole stone obelisk was only going to be here as long as the war, whomever won would likely knock it down.

"I wouldn't let them," the young warrior woman called out with a hitch of hurt in her voice, "I thought you would have more faith in us." Us being fort Castle, or Murray's team, or the Taurus, or humanity? Azura didn't have much faith in anything, besides the past.

"The one-armed wonder of Fort Castle stop everyone herself? You know he had faith, now he's dead." The huntress did not truly know why she was so spiteful, the venom on the tip of her tongue as she taunted the girl's newest insecurity. Despite her power and youth, the human lost her arm the day the faunus lost their hope.

"That's not fair Azura," Amarilla grumbled viciously, the speed of her footsteps picking up, the space between them was growing horribly short.

"And what about this is?!" Azura turned back, voice caught in a howl as she broke the peace, not aware of the intensity of her own anger until now, "Why are you here golden girl?!" She still dressed in her false gold encrusted steel armor, shiny, traditional and horribly impractical, but with only one of her gauntlets, the other arm a stump held together in some light casting, an attempt at hiding her newest disfigurement. It wasn't her sword arm. That's all Amarilla had to say about it, but it had to hurt her pride, to be lesser. She was one of those people obsessed with the lore of the perfect warrior. Now she would never be.

"The faunus warriors pay their respect by leaving a weapon with their king yes? I'm here to pay his respects as was his tradition," she replied in an awkward voice, but fairly honest. She had her own weapon, but also wrapped in cloth, a new albeit more basic sword, not fused with a rifle as was the case for officer weapons, just gold laced. A gift made for the occasion and missing the point entirely in a way only one so ignorant of the culture could miss.

"It's not a faunus tradition it's a Canis tradition," Azura clarified.

"Lot of weapons for just the Canis," Amarilla criticized, missing the poetry in the field, this meadow of lonely swords, spears, guns. Each had a different story over the course of the year, battles, hard moments, loss, they all had a story that ended with the person here. Seeing how many found its way here, how it went on and melded with the forest, leaving only the beaten path to the pillar untouched was a sign of how unalone he was in a way.

"It's a very popular Canis tradition."

"Seems foolish, why is everyone just giving up?"

"My people don't have kings, we run in confederacies, but when the Canis are threatened we nominate War Chiefs to lead us. They command armies, not legislate, it's different from your kings, anyways when they die it's over, their son or daughter doesn't get the funny hat just 'cause a parent they barely knew had a funny hat."

"So back to square one every time?"

"The tribe, the packs, were meant to be united only by threat from something outside, hordes of grimm, or you people." Old stories said that these war chiefs fought against the grimm, but recent memory pit them against human aggressors, an ancient tradition connected to human oppression and the stupidly romantic struggle against them. This was the part of the idea Azura most hated, and most blamed for Charles' death.

"Azura, we fought just as hard, look I understand you're hate, but I have sacrificed for him as much as anyone else." And Azura hated her for it, hated her for being right, for sacrificing more for him than she had ever had the luck to lose. One day someone would talk about the ardenthearted Amarilla and how she lost her limb in the line of duty and no one would mention what Azura had sacrificed, forgetting she had given up a friend, someone she loved for this stupid crusade and gain nothing.

"You lost your arm for what?" It was cruel, but she had no other choice, but to be cruel, what else could calm the rage, set things right? Make the human just leave this place and let Azura mourn and die.

"Following his orders we routed the mercenaries and assaulted the rear, we nearly cut off the retreat, I may have lost my arm fighting the rear guard, but I brought down the warden of Vermillion, that is worth something," Amarilla replied without a hitch in thought, response robotic and something she had clearly remarked to herself quite a lot. It was true though. She lost one arm, but killed the warden with the other. Turned the strategic retreat Weiss had laid out into a near rout.

"Charles is still dead." Azura sounded like she was blaming her.

"I was as fast as I could have been." Maybe she was. Unfair of her.

"I know." Azura growled as she spoke, but only to herself, anger only for herself, "And I hate that worse. If it was your fault I could snap your head off." For years Azura's response to pain was to kill the source. She crushed things, it was all she knew, all she had. There was no one left to kill, no one responsible, no one she could reach at least, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, you cared for him deeply," Amarilla wasn't an emotional woman, she was trying, but neither was Azura, this would not suffice for either of them.

"Yeah." There was a silence for a moment, a mutual understanding of their failure to connect on any level. The only thing that ever was relatable to the two was their work with blood was similar and directed toward the same people. Amarilla must have thought the same, asking the question that hung over so many conversations Azura had lately.

"Did you kill his murderer? I heard it was you."

"Yeah," Azura answered in a rasp.

She remembered it, but not as it happened, instead as it felt. Night air wasn't cold, there was too much fire, yet the memory was frosted over in ice. The night sky was grey and black, yet the recollection painted everything in deep crimson, a mist of red.

There was a moaning, both man and monster. Other reported it as cracked steam engines emptying their last dying breath as one by one the iron Schnee titans dropped into husks with their skeleton like bodies coated in arrows and bullet holes, but Azura heard moans. Ghastly horrible sounds, like a stuck grimm struggling to get up if only to kill more. The hollow hiss of an acid that had run its course through the body. This was a mocking groan.

None were left, she had personally brought down several, though it left her muscles sore and torn, it was irrelevant. She could not feel it by the time Azura reached the center of that red mist. When memory made clear the only two things that mattered. How the faces of Faunus soldiers blurred and distorted like a painting warps when it burns. Yet memory did not leave him forgotten.

Charles was dead.

On the floor he laid, body shattered and distorted, blood pooled where he had been stabbed and his teeth shattered and face had been partially skinned. Most however had drizzled out of his neck. One cold free hand was still clutched around the wound, as if he could hold his neck together.

He could not.

So his black hair was now matted and caked red, but what next Azura's memory wasn't clear of. She thought she might've screamed, but could not remember. She knew her hand went to brush his face, but couldn't find an undamaged section that could fit her palm. Animals were skinned better, slaughtered cleaner. Humans loved their animals more than him, the best faunus she had ever known. For that alone she momentarily question whether any of them had the right to live.

There was no question for Weiss however.

The Schnee would-be queen was coated in crimson, and not just Charles'. Her pressed white uniform was in tatters, arrows cluttered her back, one spear, broke but not removed, rendered her left arm useless. She had a bullet wound in her leg that shaved a section of calf off, how she could stand was near inhuman. Her rifle sword was now just a blade, the gunbarrel warped from overuse, the revolver canister empty, the Schnee finally ran out of dust. Not surprising considering how she stood on a pile of faunus dead. Many soldiers come to avenge their temporary king, a huntsman or two as well it seemed. None had killed her, now they simply watched her waiting to see if the pig would bleed to death. She was smiling, how every bit of her face would be engraved in Azura's mind. The beautiful blue balls that made her eyes, the shining silver shine to her hair, the patch of pink on the pressed lip's scar, curved now with her grin. Open only slightly, to hold the skinning knife.

There was no waiting, there was nothing but the red on her knife and the rage. Azura could not have controlled her semblance had she wanted to, though she did not. The wolf in her growled and the woman in her roared. Her teeth sharpened and eyes turned yellow like the glow of the moon before it turned yet. Her muscles grew tight and strong and hands developed into claws. She charged.

Azura needed no weapons, no shields. Weiss countered with the sword stabbing into her adversary. It went deep, but she did not feel it. Right claw struck the Schnee along the head, force sending her back a few feet and the nails carving what would have been new scars along her face. Maybe hours ago, Azura would have died to a bullet doing this, maybe Weiss could have countered. She could have been the better warrior, better huntress, but now she had no arm, no gun, no dust, no aura, no right to live, no right to exist, no right to breath. She needed to die, needed to die, needs to die.

As she fell in the red mud, scurrying to her feet Azura pounced, reaching for whatever she could grab like a starving beowolf. She found a leg, sinking her teeth in to the calf so viciously it was tearing. Weiss resisted as much as she could kicking the beast, but she did not feel it, the boot that broke her nose was like a kiss.

The huntress pulled Weiss to the floor, arm and legs flailing and kicking, leaving bruises and broken bones, yet she felt nothing as she forced the woman down. Biting deep in her good arm and pulling it till the socket no longer struggled. From there, Weiss could not resist. Azura beat her, claws cutting away at her, some told Azura that she ripped out the woman's throat with her teeth, though she could not remember much as the red mist of rage shadowed her mind. The only moment that seemed clear to her was when the Lord of Castle white died, when she pressed her thumbs into the women's eye sockets and crushed the skull and felt it turn to shattered glass.

Then came sobbing. Then came pain. Then loss. Azura now knew what it was to be truly alone. For without even hate to keep her company there was nothing once the high of rage ended.

The story ended there for her. There was no consolation.

"Didn't matter. She wasn't the only one responsible," Azura acknowledged. For all her rage and mess, for what horrible death she gave Weiss it was a rather juvenile and useless thing. She would have bled out and died. It was just an expedited trip. Just a temper tantrum. The world failed Charles, just as it had with Lucia and like with killing Guido, killing Weiss did nothing to end it, if anything it just gave her less of a reason to exist.

"If the Taurus had not abandoned us," the yellow knight said the words that no one dared and everyone thought. Charles gambled with Weiss because with a third of his army gone all there was to do was gamble. Had the Taurus been there Azura would have stayed with him, Weiss might have even trapped them, but not butchered him like an animal.

"She needs to die." The old mindset came back immediately. The void was filled with rage, a desire for revenge, and the hollow reality slipped back into the forgotten, almost. Nihilism was still on the table and knowing the Taurus was untouchable chose that for her.

"She has a Castle now, she took Nördlichste, you'd never reach her," Amarilla countered Azura's thoughts, seeing into the back of her brain knowing what was inside of her more than the knight should have ever.

"I know." the wolf replied, resting her body on the ancestral huntress' great sword, body still stung, the bones still healing, though it was a dull pain now. She looked back at the yellow knight, hard faced. She had more to say, the way she opened her lips almost to speak, but nothing audible ever came of it. "What are you really here for?"

"To see you, I suppose." she replied with a deep exhale. Her exasperation gave it away. She was a messenger, come to wake Azura up, that the world's intrigues and bullshit had not stopped even for a moment. Charles' death did not mean the death of the world nor the ambitions or jealous souls around her. The matter of the child would not wait for her mourning to be over.

"It's about the kid eh?" Azura mumbled knowing it was over.

"Maledetta has decided you will not be permitted in fort Castle for the duration of the conflict. She is concerned for her child's safety." Amarilla sounded convinced of it, though Azura doubted she was stupid enough to believe that this was anything temporary.

"She's concerned 'cause she knows damn well I'm the godmother," Azura could not do more than spit her anger, she had not the energy to yell. Rage reduced to little cuts and complaints. She hated Maledetta, the wife didn't bother coming to the funeral, she called all her little knights home, shut the gates and went right back to the way things were before her husband ever stepped foot in her little castle. Young pseudo-queen turned her back on the faunus as soon as her own fate became uncertain. Leaving only Murray and the Taurus as faunus leaders in the north. Charles should have never trusted her. She wouldn't ever again.

"Yes, and you are, but Maledetta is still alive and well." That was the one solid point they had, but it was always intended that the child not be removed from its people. Maledetta wasn't afraid of Azura thinking she was going to steal them away. It was more...cultural.

"And I can't even see them? Why? 'Cause I'll tell them their funny little ears come from faunus blood? I'll make them savage?" Maybe she would have. Taught them things she had taught Charles. How to hunt and fight, how to avoid grimm and string a bow, how to swing a sword, fire a gun. Lessons she had neglected to teach Charles. How to detach from others, that there was nothing loyal about people. That any kindness is a demon in disguise.

"Look you might not agree with it, I don't even agree with it," Amarilla wasn't afraid to be loud, to approach Azura, to stand tall, proud, and stupid. It was consequently the most redeeming feature and irritable quality of her. "but the Queen is clear, my cousin, the mother, will raise them as she sees fit."

"Of course," the wolf near whispered looking away and down, too angry to look at her and know there was nothing she could do.

"If you wait, you'll see them, after they're born, when things are less tense, I can convince my cousin, I know you mean well," Amarilla did mean that, she wasn't that apt at lying. "Azura I respect you." It would have made more sense as a lie.

"Yet you came to my best friend's grave to tell me I can't see his kin," Azura turned to look at her, eyes flashing gold for a moment, unable to shout, but words dripping out like hot steam, boiling in the new winter air, "'cause I got to say that's really fuckin' confusing girl."

"I also came to see you, if you're okay, everyone says you quit. I'm worried," Amarilla worried was a concept that had never even crossed into the threshold of Azura's mind. It was odd, disrupted every thought running through Azura's head leaving her star struck, "What are you going to do now? Go back to fight?"

"No reason to," that answer was easy, easier to say then she had predicted. There was nothing that attached her to this conflict anymore.

"Your people?" Nationalism, a human pastime Azura supposed and a growing faunus sentiment, but not her own. There was nothing inherently better for her when it came to the humans or faunus people. Horns didn't make kin, or ears. It was shared meals, memories, homes. All else was ginned up by some sort of fallacy.

"I had two people, they're dead now."

"Home?" Amarilla asked again, hoping to hit something more concrete. She did not.

"I don't know where to find it," Azura laughed, "probably a burned down shack somewhere. I've always lived where I've camped. A faunus Huntress is not exactly the most excellently paid people around. Charles home more likely than else, but that place is gone now."

"What then?" Amarilla) thought there must be something. Simply there was not. There was nothing.

"I'm going to head east, into the mountains, hunt," Azura answered with a small groan, lifting herself off the support of her weapon, eyes looking up the Eastern mountains, Vale's natural defense. Mostly unmapped black rocks dotted with troughs of snow and scattered trees. It was there where the grimm flourished and the races of the light rarely went. Somewhere in there was a place she could go in the shade of scattered trees, in the snow, a place to quietly drift away.

"You're not leaving him your sword?" Amarilla asked.

"I am," Azura answered.

"Getting a new one?"

"I have my hands."

"No, no, no I will not let you do that." Amarilla closed the gap between them, grasping the metal pauldron of her armor and spinning the faunus warrior right around, tearing her away from the peace of her grimm mountains, her silent disappearance.

"I'm a huntress, it's my job," Azura barely murmured a reply, knowing it would ring false. Hell if she ever cared about her job anyways.

"I will not let you commit suicide!"

"It's not suicid-"

"It is!" Amarilla shouted, voice tugging at something inside, as to what she had no idea, a one sided connection perhaps, something she could see that Azura could not "You are going to commit death by grimm! That's your plan! Charles wouldn't want that!"

"Too bad he's fucking dead!" Azura shoved her off, the crippled knight barely moving despite the wolf's outrageous strength. The huntress thought she could not be angry anymore, could not yell, but telling her what Charles wanted, "Lucia committed suicide by hanging, Charles suicide by profound idiocy, why not add mine to the bloody list eh?! It's fucking poetic right? Tell me why I can't just fucking die somewhere!"

"You need a reason to live well how about failure!" Amarilla pushed back, one armed fury that she was it tripped up Azura, near knocking her to the floor. "You were supposed to protect him, and he's dead. You doomed us all by your own insane standards. If you are so obsessed with this then fine. Fight grimm till your body breaks, but with a fucking weapon." Amarilla tossed her gold colored long sword, an ornate little thing worth more than Azura's house, right at her, crashing against the armor and dropping to the dirt with a muted thud. "It's barely a sword, but with it kill them all, cut them down until all that guilt you have is gone, smother the mountains in their blood, do whatever you need. Return to being an honorable huntress, win back your soul if you need to, but die because you fought, not because you gave up." Amarilla did not cry, but her eyes were doused in tears that would not drop, would not suffer the indignity, "If you survive all that, you become a huntress, maybe then we can get some revenge. The Taurus will not go unpunished while I live, and if you want to help me, we need to play the long game."

"Why do you care? About me? About Charles." She was human, she had no stake in this, no reason to seek out vengeance with her, but the rage that trembled in her voice was real. It reminded her of herself.

"Charles was my King, he tried to be a good king, I never liked him, but that was enough. You, you are a Huntress. When I was a little girl, I looked up to your kind, the women with their armor and weapons fighting for something more real than the petty squabbles and politics. For that little girl, I'll help you." Azura remembered feeling that way long ago, looking at her mother before the first year of the war took her mother through an wound infection, before a beowolf slashed open her face, before she met Charles, she remembered that child. That little girl seemed so far away now. To think she was a child too.

"One day," Azura mumbled making it into a promise, not just a suggestion.

"One day," Amarilla replied, hand out. They shook on it and that was the end. The yellow knight whom she should have made friends with so much sooner began to walk away, her locks flowing in the wind. Scattered leaves and a field of swords swirling around her.

"But the offering!" Azura shouted after her, picking up the gold sword, so wrong in a field full of cheaply made weapons worn from use. Such a human like thing compared to the rest.

"You can keep the sword, I'm not a faunus. Don't need a faunus tradition!" she yelled, turning to smile only for a moment.

"Canis tradition!" Azura shot back, earning a groan from the knight in the distance.

"Same thing!" She let out before disappearing into the brush and thicker stretching out of the heart of the mountain woods,

"Bloody racist," the Huntress mumbled in reply, a momentary grin on her face, temporary, but meaningful.

Azura was alone now, though gifted with a touch more desire to live; she still had to make her last peace, to part now and forever. She reached out and touched the obelisk and it was cold, much like Charles was under the earth. It was not the comfort she hoped it was. So much she wanted to yell at him, scream at the fool for not listening, for trusting, for believing too much in the myth they spun about him, but she was wordless. This was not the warmth she yearned for in Charles' home, a small little hovel, the three of them hanging around the fire, each competing for affections of Lucia, both being scolded for their stupidity.

Their childhood had died twice, but no more. She lit the small torches around the rock pillar, an offering of smoke made only by those closest to the deceased. No one touched them before her, and too much heartache, no one would likely touch them again besides his brother, if the fool was still kicking about.

It was time. Amarilla gift fit well on her belt, but the family great sword could not follow her. She promised it to Charles, promised it to his protection. It was spoken for. Her body ached, but Azura managed to lift the massive blade up straight, pointed to the soil, right in front of his tombstone. A soundless moment, remnant was pierced, the ground impaled deep by her sword, standing near as tall as the monument and forever at its side.

She had to turn away, for she could not lie at his grave forever, there was still hope for vengeance, though it would be years. She could cry elsewhere, pay her dues in grimm blood till she could feel right again. Until forever. The only comfort as she walked the path was the vestiges of weapons that endlessly stood with hers. So many. So many promised to him kept their word. He was loved. For all the uselessness in that sentiment. At least he was loved.

***** So this chapter came at an unusually difficult time. I had to write it and started right before Monty passed away. It was too much to write about a dead man when he was still being mourned. Though that process has certainly not ended. As silly as it is, waiting any longer would not be the kind of thing he desired of people. He was never one to excuse inefficiency. So I'm back on track. This is a shorter chapter and certainly a difficult one to write if it feels off.**

** Thank you to TCR who edits AV for the patience. Thank you everyone for reading. This marks the last chapter for Azura and the official death of Weiss. Weiss is named after Weiss, there is no other structure for that sorry. Azura thrym is named after Azure blue and the king of the Frost Giants Thrym, whose death to thor was the source of red riding hoods story. I hope you all enjoy, keep loving the RWBY universe and remembering the great work Monty did. Have a good day to all of you.**


	18. Ch 18: How Children Played At Slaughter

**Chapter 18: How Children Played At Slaughtering**

**Lord Friedrich Schnee **

"How did you get here?" Friedrich asked, caught in surprise by the story he was hearing. Today was sullen, weather dreary, castle empty of voices, yet full of frightened people. No one had much to say, which was almost funny considering how Weiss and Wilhelm used to conduct them like a fools orchestra. They were dead now. No one was running the show. Friedrich supposed he was perhaps, ill-fitted in his fathers, or sister's chair.

"I walked sir," the young man responded. He was Czarny Zawisza, or Sir Czarny Zawisza. He was a skinny young man, only a little older than he was, maybe five years? Seemed humble though, everyone was acting strange now, humble or rude now that Friedrich was the last Schnee of White Castle. It was impossible to say which he was, he was new.

"No one tried to catch you?" Friedrich asked again. The young man had seen the fighting at White River as a prisoner, dragged to the recently conquered north now run by the Faunus. Miles between there and here, to simply walk. Friedrich knew he didn't know everything, he did however know that seemed, odd. Just escaping.

"I walked very quickly sir," he answered, standing right with his worn clothes. Someone tried to make him presentable, but the dried blood on his uniform, the sleeve of one side of his Schnee soldier uniform cut short, ending in an ugly bandaged stump. Friedrich tried not to look at it, tried and failed.

"Shouldn't you sit down?" Friedrich noted, thinking of the wounds he must of suffered, the way he stood heavy on one leg, "We can bring you a chair?"

"No sir," Zawisza responded, something dark in his almond eyes stirred, "Sitting is rather painful. Thank you." When Qrow found the young man on the road during one of his grimm hunts, he described the young knight as ruined. Hair long black and filthy, body warped and bloody, and that was only the things he was willing to say to a child. The story he told however implied a lot worse.

"You have lost a lot for us, we'll compensate you for some of the suffering," Friedrich had no idea how one compensated for that kind of thing, truly anyways, but it was just what Wilhelm would do. Friedrich knew to mirror them both. Act as they did.

"Thank you sir, but it won't be necessary," Zawisza politely declined, "I came to inform you that the Northern Faunus under the orders of a Faunus woman named the Taurus is in route to capture Castle White. They should be here in no short of two days. They believe with your sister, gods rest her, passed on and the casualties lost, they should be able to encircle us my lord." They weren't wrong, though the Schnee had certainly lost less people at the White River than the Faunus, it was still a daunting issue, his sister's retreat plans ruined by sneaking soldiers from Fort Castle. Worse was the moral. Many simply left. Some quietly, like Russell's Mercenaries. Some loud, like the new Warden of Vermillion, Friedrich's cousin. Friedrich knew what it was to lose a father, only difference is he never liked his father. The new warden deserted openly, with all his sentinels, leaving only a note from Weiss he claimed himself honorbound to turn in, the last wishes of his father. This all made Friedrich tired, he didn't get angry or yell, he didn't cry like he thought he was supposed to, he just became tired, simply exhausted. He didn't feel normal, nothing was right.

"How did you find this out?" Friedrich believed him, but Wilhelm always said to seem skeptic, why he wasn't sure yet. Figured he would know better when he was older. Wilhelm should have been around to explain it.

"The Faunus couple whom held me hostage considered me sufficiently broken sir." Friedrich didn't want to know how one became sufficiently broken. "I played along, didn't fight till I found a chance. The man, he asked me to shave his neck, chained me to the chain, thought I'd be too frightened to...I wasn't. His partner, she was close enough to reach with the barber's knife. I used the axe to free myself from the chain, kept the barber's knife to protect me, still have it. I was too weak, on part of the blood you understand sir, to use the axe sir, I hope you understand." He wasn't lying, not that he had a reason to, but Qrow flinched at the story, meaning he believed it, and Qrow never believed in anyone. Now everyone was scared. Rollo stood aside and cursed, the traditional hawks looked to each other yet said nothing and the merchants all whispered in quick. The only one that didn't have any reaction aside from himself, was Thetis. She seemed tired too. Always did. She didn't speak much anymore. Friedrich guessed she lost friends too.

"You sacrificed your hand for us. Thank you. I am pretty good with machines and dust. I think I could make something for it. That and pay to see you get," Friedrich couldn't think of where he would go, "to a home same."

"I would be in your debt, but that is not what I meant to ask of you," the almond eyes of his grew dark again, few probably noticed, but he quivered as he spoke, wetness in his angry eyes surfacing, "I want to fight. I want to help you kill them all. Please let me fight. Please sir," this young man wasn't right, he was broken, but Friedrich felt broken too. Maybe that's why he stirred something deep in the last Schnee, an iron ball in the pit of his belly, It rocked as he quaked, and they found something silently there to bound them.

"I won't make anything right," Wilhelm always said to tell the truth in a deal, which was odd given he lied so often, but still he followed the advice, "all I can promise is I'll let you fight. We'll fix your arm, and I promise I'll fight them as long as I can and if I ever can't you can go where the fighting is." Friedrich, with such a strange kinship between them, could not deny him. "In the meantime, seal the town down. No one leaves, and no one enters. All forces are to build up fortifications, all commanders are to meet with me after issuing previous orders. Dismissed" Friedrich had no idea what he was supposed to, or was going to, say at the meeting. It was just what Weiss would do, and she was a good leader. Emulation, he supposed, as a replicant for lack of ability.

Everyone listened, though he didn't doubt some were rushing for the gates before they were sealed. This was unavoidable. Why anyone would listen to him was an odd to himself. "Thetis," he asked getting up from the chair onto the step ladder they made special for him. He was tall for his age, wrapped in white furs, but still too small for that chair, "why haven't you left us."

"I haven't been dismissed." She tried to smile but her emerald eyes would not let any light out. It was a lame answer, but her and her band of elite mercenaries were a comfort.

"If she's anything like me little one, she wants revenge after those bastards caught us on the retreat. Killed plenty of my brothers," Rollo Valkyrie cut in with an angry laugh. Friedrich liked him, he was weird, but the kind of weird that made sense, or followed a pattern one could predict. The why for his actions, while occasionally foolish, were always consistent.

"But Qrow I don't want to go yet!" Summer's voice was crying out from behind the exit. The path Qrow had taken and now Friedrich turned off on, the air warm outside of the frost laden lobby .

"We have to leave, you don't understand Summer, please listen to your older brother!" Qrow was grasping his younger sister, dressed as she usually did in poorer cheap red and white dresses, the red hooded cape around her shoulders oversized for her. The elder Rose would have no problem dragging the younger away, but he was always sweet with her. In that way he reminded Friedrich of Weiss, behind closed doors of course.

"I haven't said goodbye! No!" she shouted, an unmoving stone despite Qrow's attempts. Friedrich was happy to hear that, but sad too. Summer wouldn't leave him without saying goodbye, but she would leave regardless. Like the others.

"You can't leave anyways," the young Schnee said aloud, to a conversation he was not permitted, judging from Qrow's stares. Rollo seemed to chuckle, Friedrich was unsure what was funny, and Thetis said nothing, as she always did.

"Look, I am not fighting in this battle for you, let us go Friedrich. Please," Qrow sounded earnest, but wouldn't look him in the eye. In fact the older Rose seemed to do that a lot, red tipped hair always in his face, silver eyes never looking at his. Friedrich wondered perhaps if he was angry at him.

"No, no one leaves," Friedrich didn't want to throw a tantrum, but it was trying to bubble up despite him, he could only breath to keep it calm, "It's not safe, you could get captured. Summer is safer here." He didn't know if that was really true, he said it anyways. Not really sure why he was so set in it, but it was a must.

"You can't hold us here,"Qrow growled, pulling his sister away, but she did budge, she seemed so confused.

"He can Qrow, you see he runs things here, now calm down son before we make a fus in front of the littlest one ey?" Rollo replied, taking things a step farther than they needed to be as he stepped his older and larger self up to Qrow. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but it made the Rose pause. He couldn't hate Friedrich more, he supposed.

"I wouldn't put her in danger," Friedrich noted, not sure why, or to what meaning. He believed it was true or mostly true. At least it was intended, if not his main motivation. He didn't really understand it, but certainly Rollo's more threatening approach wasn't necessary. "Summer I need to work on a prosthetic arm for a knight, I think we have a few we can work on. Would you want to help?"

Summer didn't say anything at first, just looked at Friedrich, then looked at Qrow, her matching silver eyes sad and begging. It made Qrow angry, his fist clenched up, something the young Schnee's father did quite a bit before he was rendered invalid, and as he understood it that meant effectively dead. "Please," she whispered, though the hall was so empty they would all hear it.

"I don't think we have a choice," Qrow mumbled, releasing her. If he had no reason to hate him, Friedrich doubted he would not have an excuse now. As Summer with a smile skipped over to the small boy and hugged him, if only for a moment, Qrow looked on with disgust. Yet for whatever reason, Friedrich didn't care, he liked this moment, and he found it so hard to like anything anymore. Why should he care so much about what Qrow thought or felt, Wilhelm trusted him, and he was dead now. The older Rose wasn't their friend anymore. If ever.

"Summer we have work to do!" Friedrich complained, though he didn't really mean it. He just knew everyone was watching, and Rollo seemed to find he being embraced by someone in public laughable. He was supposed to be untouchable after all, these Roses were of a lower class.

"You're so bossy!" Summer complained, but walked with him. The last friend he had.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Friedrich, my sweet little one.<em>

_I write this, as I have failed you, not as your lord, that I will immortalize, but as your sister. Grief has taken me. I've lost all the lights of my life besides you, which makes this my most painful letter, and my most horrid failure. Many times we have been cruel to you, my sweet brother, who had done nothing but exist. Now the last bit of light in this world is with you. You'll be Lord of Castle White, though I predict, as Wilhelm did, that will matter less than you are herby given the SDC, our dust, our legacy, our history that stretches a thousand years, from the first Weiss in Vermillion to our ancestors in Atlas. Defend it. Whatever must be done, you must be the one to do it. Whatever cruelty, whatever pain, you must survive, the Schnee legacy must survive, the torches of the world must remain lit. Our dust keeps the darkness at bay, nothing else matters. This truth is why I suffer leaving you, why I abandon a child too sweet for his charge, and why you must never be sweet again. Steel your heart child, as cold as ice, know that whatever you do in the years to come, I love you so much my sweet little Friedrich. You are my brother, but to me, you will always be the child I will never have. Goodbye Friedrich. _

_Love does not begin to describe it._

_Lord Weiss Schnee the second._

Goodbye is bad luck. She would have known that, Wilhelm said it every single trip. She did know that, yet that was the point. This goodbye wasn't suppose to be lucky. The letter had washed over Friedrich, unable to be processed, he didn't get it, but couldn't let it go. All he could do was try, try so hard to be a good boy, listen to her, never let her sister down. Protect the dust, protect this home, protect everyone.

Snow was falling, so heavy, winter in full force now and it chilled him, as did the ripping wind where he stood on the highest Castle tower, looking over all of Winter's Town, and all the violence that surrounded them. The walls held as volleys of cannons and artillery were fired back and forth. The faunus could not get close enough to knock the walls down in one massive volley, the three airships they had left would fire down on every heavy platform they tried to build up at closer range. Now it was just waiting, their dark shadow that controlled every side of the river banks, an army divided into three with flags showing a dark blood red rose and a wolf. The Taurus, the faunus irregulars that met at the meeting called them. Yet they were still doing damage, peppering the walls and crushing the outer defensive trenches.

"Lord Friedrich, the southern side reports the Taurus vanguard remains dug in, suppressed, the western force also sits steady, too small to press," Zawisza shouted, his voice trying to be heard over the popping sounds of the big guns that were propped up on the Castle walls. The issue wasn't those banks. To surround Castle White you had to divide your army into three parts, Weiss had taught him. One small force between the White River and North Water coming from the road to Fort Castle, one big force parallel to the White River, on the Road to Avarice, and lastly a force on the other side of the North Water and White River divide on the road to Nördlichste. That was the one that scared everyone. It too big for its job, Zawisza had claimed in his meeting, a third of the total force. It moved closer, despite the shelling, trying to do something, people suggested sapping, though that wasn't something Friedrich understood, he did understand that they needed to do something. Aggressive stalemates like this attracted grimm, a bigger problem for the Faunus than White Castle. At least for now.

"Rollo, Thetis, I need you to focus there, in case they do something." That was Friedrich's last ace, with so much desertion, all the preparation gave him the most well equipped army in Vale, but way too small to hold something this large. Friedrich should have stopped his cousin, but he never knew this was coming.

"Yes Sir," Thetis replied cooly. Friedrich was unsure about her, she was still the strongest fighter in the castle, but her exhaustion was clear, she seemed so upset, was gaining weight even for such an athletic person, something was wrong and Friedrich feared she meant to abandon him. Thus Rollo.

"I'm scared, I want to leave!" Summer was screaming to hear herself, Friedrich was insisting on putting strong earmuffs on her. Still, even if the sound was deafened, the lights weren't as they shimmered in the smoke. The smell was also potent, the hot dust burned so quickly and left its stink in the air. Friedrich was terrified.

"Don't worry sweetheart," Zawisza shouted just loud enough to be heard, leaning down on one knee. He brushed her hair away with the reconstructed prosthetic arm. It was mostly Wernher's model, but took the two of them to make it work. Still janky, prone to occasional slight shakes. Still it had a profound effect on the young man. Giving him back his limb didn't make him less skinny, or make his wounds less red and puffy, but the confidence and strength to him came back immediately, something that seemed to make him very attached to the two of them. Qrow of course, did not like this.

"We should go inside, please," the older Qrow didn't advise so much as ask. His teeth clenched and his eyes glared at Zawisza. He did not like him, at all, claimed the man disturbed. Maybe he was, yet much kinder to the two of them than Qrow ever was anymore.

"I need to see what's going on," Friedrich remarked, knowing full well that we didn't include him.

"I can escort the little miss inside if you want, but she's certainly much safe with us here than inside. If she much rather be alone," Zawisza replied in a very polite voice. The world alone made Summer frightened, eyes wide and suddenly she was again attached to the knight. Being alone tonight would scare anyone, being alive tonight scared Friedrich near to tears. _Was the word alone intentional? _

"Summer," Qrow groaned, fed up.

"Qrow I'll be good I'll be quiet, I don't want to be alone please?" The only one smiling was Zawisza, he was always smiling.

"Summer it's okay, either way you don't have to be alone," Friedrich wanted her here, but the look in her eyes. If she cried he was going to cry, this was too much. He couldn't handle this. He wanted Weiss here, she would turn the tide, she would change everything. He would just cry.

"Zawisza," the young knight's radio flooded on, the shortwave thing barely worked in this heavy weather with so many channels full of orders Friedrich had somewhat ordered, "Thetis and Rollo's forces are on the North Water gate, but the numbers are larger than we thought. They keep trying to poke holes in the wall with small guns. If we run out of dust we won't be able to hold them. Please we need help!" Everyone shut up, even Zawisza's grin faded into an awkward nervous smile. He was the first to speak.

"Their chief's son, Aka, was commanding that encampment, if the plan hasn't changed. He's not very smart, but brave. If we start running low he will push on the gate with everything he has. Sir, we have to think about what happens if he gets through."

Think about what? Friedrich was a child, he didn't understand the nuances of war like Weiss did, he was alright in class, but how could he know? How could anyone expect anything? It was unfair. He just wanted to run, the letter said to do what he needed to do, but he didn't know what that meant. He would give up anything, but he didn't know how. Like the world around him the young Schnee froze in fear, in inability, in being a child.

Then Summer cried.

She was just a child, but it was so loud, or felt so loud. It cut out every sound every thought. It was impossible to think, it stung his ears worse than the snow drops that sat in his silver hair. It burned out thoughts harder than grief ever did, it was so horrible. His tears began to flow, he just wanted it to stop, to pause. The crying scream, it had to end, had to end. All this had to just go away.

"**Stop crying!**" Friedrich breathed as the screaming paused. He had never meant to yell, but it had to stop. He was so sorry to see her silently dripping with tears and snot, he looked just as disgusting he was sure. The peace, though, the cannons turned to nothing, everything was silent. The thoughts flowed again.

"_if we run out of dust."_

"_he's not very smart, but brave"_

"_Whatever must be done._"

_Wernher's design_

"Zawisza," Friedrich spoke in a calm he had never had before, "Have half the cannons begin to stop firing in random order, point them toward the Northwater gate. Cut the cannon fire north down by a third, randomly, but keep everything loaded and pointed at the area around the gate, the inside too. Let them bust through the doors, have Rollo, Thetis, and the Faunus irregulars hold all the roads coming from outside the gates, tell them to let them be pushed back a few blocks, but to hold the invaders there. Everyone else is to retreat. Whatever is left of the sentinel robots Wernher built, make them ready to go." Such a simple idea, even a kid could think of it, but required something else. Coldness.

"I understand sir," Zawisza knew immediately, but shared that whatever it was. His issuing orders were quick and undeterred by the questionable nature of the horrible things they were about to do.

"You can't be doing this. They're your people." Qrow mumbled, he did not share that coldness, Friedrich supposed, or did not value this place enough to excuse it.

"All the citizens have been evacuated," Friedrich spoke like a machine. Was this what Weiss would have done? Was that what the letter was supposed to tell him?

"The soldiers though, they'll be caught."

"Faunus irregulars, most likely to be sympathetic to the invaders, Rollo and Thetis' people, mercenaries likely to leave or turn if things get bad. It is the best choice." Numbers, Wilhelm always said to trust the numbers, calculate the odds. When they sat at night studying risk and probability, was this the math he was supposed to do? Would Wilhelm have done this?

"I could stop you, I could stop you right here!" Qrow for the first time, as far as Friedrich had ever known, he unsheathed his scythe at another human. Friedrich was afraid, but not even so terribly afraid for himself. He couldn't explain it, so little he could. This whole event was too much. He was doing things and just couldn't.

"No," Zawisza's voice came from behind Qrow, a firm metallic hand placed on his shoulder and squeezed tight, the slick sound of a barber's knife unleashed came from his other hand. "You couldn't Mr. Rose."

"Take Summer inside. Don't leave her alone. Please Qrow. Don't leave her alone," Friedrich didn't want Summer to know about this, to understand it. She liked Rollo, looked up to Thetis, she didn't understand why there was fighting. These were all things Friedrich shared, but he had to understand it, or at least do it if he didn't understand it. Do it without thinking, he guessed. He was so tired.

"You're twice the monster your father was, and you're still just a child. You people don't deserve to rule us!" Qrow shouted out, putting a thought in Friedreich's head he would not begin to unravel for a very long time.

"Sir?" Zawisza asked, Friedrich thought, for permission to kill him. The young Schnee shook his head no. Why do more of it than he was already going to. Murder was wrong. This was wrong, but right. How could it be both?

"Fuck you!" Qrow shouted, but no one reacted. Friedrich supposed that was enough, for he left. Just the two left now, on a tower overlooking the distant north, waiting. Plan already enacting, a few cannons left firing, mortars all but stopped. The other camps, out of caution or inability waiting, but the black mass stirred in the snow along the north road. A miasma of faunus charging, a bull right into the gate. Some cannons kept firing, pucking off its sides, chips in this flowing river. Aka, or at least the person Zawisza suggested was Aka, crushed the main gate, busting it apart into shards of wood. That's when the flood broke. The mass poured into the city like roaring rapids of humanoids. The Mercenaries and Irregulars held them at first, then eased, let more in, held, eased, let more in, held, eased, let more in. Most of the dark army, he could see the vibrant white and red of their armors now, most of them were through. The mercenaries held, but they couldn't for long. Soon they would break. Everything would fall apart. Everyone would die.

Friedrich would like to think he paused, for a long time he even told himself this was true. He didn't.

"Fire!" Zawisza sent out his order by flare, and the spectacle began. Rushing blues, reds, yellows, whites, a rainbow of colors, burst inside this bulge of people, around them, above them, raining ice, fire, lightning, lead, all in this mass and the containing parties caught in the storm. The barrage destroyed the wall, though very little faunus were outside them at this point. The whole district of the city simply vanished into pillars of primeval elements. People below were tossed in the storm, some bodies flying above the buildings themselves for as little as they stood. The Mistralian's formed a ball of shields, a formation they made last minute, Friedrich did hope they lived, though Thetis might kill him for this, considering even above he could see the glint of bronze from people whom did not make it into that dome formation. Rollo's people flat ran, the ones who made it were the ones either in the back or protected by rubble. The Faunus irregulars however were eviscerated. Some might survive, but not many. And here he was hoping they, citizens of the city still, would be the ones to fair the best.

Through this stunning display, what bothered Friedrich the most wasn't the mass of destruction, he was prepared for that, or the horror his sister and veterans had seen before, he was...conditioned for that. What surprised him, mortified him, was how little he felt. Which was to say, he felt nothing. No sick twisted joy like the crazy people supposedly felt, no great guilt at what he had done, though that did come later. He most of all felt an understanding, that this happened, that he was to blame, that it had to be done and he wanted to rest. Friedrich wanted people to survive of course, and never to do it again, but how well he took it, even at that age, he knew something inside him had broke when reading that letter that allowed this neutrality.

"Zawisza, please launch the sentinals. We have to rescue what we can and stabilize the wall. Tell all cannons to focus elsewhere." The two of them departed together, passing the Roses who sat in silence, Summer confused and Qrow defeated. Bellow the Castle about thirty of the clockwork giants Weiss had retrofitted were waiting for them. These things made Friedrich out to be tiny. Armed wherever one could shove a gun and javelin, eyes made of dust and skull like metal casings for heads. These beasts lumbered forward to match the child's speed, both Friedrich and Zawisza took horses provided by the held back Schnee dragoons, the forces that originally kept the gate protected. These were the people he traded the Faunus for. They seemed so happy.

They rode together into the mist of elemental dust and ruin, soldiers from both sides wandered confused and broken. The ones wearing Schnee uniforms were taken to the medics by the dragoons, the ones in grimm masks were crushed. The machines did not know the concept of prisoners, something Friedrich didn't predict and regretted. The Mistralians survived and retreated without orders, but no one stopped them. Thetis was in the force that lived, but she looked dead and refused even to acknowledge Friedrich, he would not take that personally. Rollo survived, found under a fallen arch, saved by his tenacity and luck alone. He was rather talkative once freed, and threatened to cave in Friedrich's head. A crime he would pardon the older man off the next morning.

The most unusual find was the enemy leader. his leg was disfigured and encased in ice, body burned by fire, and lastly a javelin struck him in his chest. The machines again knew little of capture. He moaned in pain, refusing to die. Zawisza without orders dismounted

"Aka Taurus, is your younger brother Kuro here?" Zawisza lacked his usual politeness. The man reaching into his pocket, this would end one way.

"You're...their...plaything? How did….you-" he never finished. Zawisza with a clean swipe sliced his neck and the young man was dead. Friedrich found himself sick, throwing up in his hand trying his best to hide it. The smells here were terrible.

The plan had worked, one of the three required banks were freed from the siege, the bombardment made retaking it impossible and the enemy force was left no option but to simply leave while the wall was repaired with rubble by the machines. Some people were taken prisoner during body recovery, most however passed away from wounds. The three groups were to be immortalized every winter in ice sculptures in a new plaza to be built post-haste when the war was over. Zawisza's idea. Friedrich knew it would really make things better. If it was possible to both be unremorseful and sorry he was. Would people remember this, looking at the ice statues, as a story of how children played at slaughtering?

It was, after all, what Weiss would have done, and the Schnee Sigil, the snowflake, remained above the moonstone fortress, forever more.

***** This may be the fastest AV chapter I have ever written, literally I finished Choice sunday, this was done on Wednesday! This marks the real falling action folks, two more chapters after this! Please remember to leave reviews and I do hope it was of sufficient quality. I hope I did alright with Friedrich, he is a brilliant child, but remembering how to not know as much as everyone else is weird so I understand if he seems a little above his age, which developmentally he is but you get the point. Also if anyone's worried, MV and Choice next chapters are done just out for review! **

****Aka comes from red in japanese, one half of the phrase akakuro, the red black color pattern common in japanese art, often mispronounced Akaguro for people wondering what akagura was hahaha. ****


	19. Chapter 19: Field of Lies

**Chapter 19: Field of Lies**

**Friedrich Schnee CEO of the SDC**

"Is there any way to change your mind Rollo?" Friedrich asked, knowing the answer. The older Northerner looked back, his face was slightly burnt from the battle, though it had healed well, the scars made it hard to tell when he was smiling, or clenching his teeth in disgust. Though from his laugh and the way he shook his head, Friedrich guessed it was cleanly between.

"There is no way in hell, I will ever work for you or your family again. I'm off to find a new job, since you've done me the disservice of murdering half my brothers and sisters!" Rollo lifted his warhammer up, and the thin remainder of the Brave Bronze readied to remove him. The older larger man chuckled again, this time turning away, a fresh bag of lien in his hand, full payment for him and all his crew resting inside. "I should be a huntsmen, after all it's a much safer job than spending time with you all!"

Today the lockdown was over. The Taurus army had abandoned the assault well over two weeks prior, but stayed so close to the rivers into town. Waiting for something, unwilling to abandon their position and go home. Friedrich thought it was for Murray to come up and it was right they did. Leaving Forever Falls they cluttered up the other river, poised opposite, also refusing to commit. It didn't make sense, but kept the roads closed and the grimm close. Impossible for anyone to leave, until now. Today, on a unusually warm winter day, when snow fell on the ground, but barely stuck, the Royal army arrived, under command of a Philip Arc come by the sea, they took the final river, freeing up the road and turning this into a strange battlefield where no one was dying and with the scales balanced as they were, and everyone was just waiting, well anyone who wasn't collecting their pay and leaving today.

"The next on the list is Thetis Nikos of the Brave Bronze, the court is pleased to see you Ma'am." Zawisza announced, taking a very personal role in Friedrich's life. He had turned into Friedrich's personal aide and bodyguard, he was skinny, but strong, his semblance perfect for someone like him. The young Schnee liked one thing about him more than anything else, he was comfortable with just sitting quiet with him, in a way neither Thetis, Rollo, Qrow or anyone was.

"Thetis, how are you today?" Friedrich asked, the red Mistralian walking into center stage, she had fallen into an even deeper depression, there was plenty of reason. After the battle she refused to return to the Castle, living with her remaining warriors in the guard house near the south gate. Their several hundred had boiled down to a poultry fifty three. Her husband, and father of her child, was not one of them.

"I have come to receive final payment. The Brave Bronze are disbanding." Thetis was once someone made of pure polished bronze, skin immaculate even on the scars, hair like fire and eyes like gems. Friedrich thought she was beautiful, even embarrassed him, but now she seemed...faded, still a flame, still bronze though her abs were beginning to grow less visible with her slightly expanding stomach, still perfect, but now small. Friedrich didn't know how to explain it.

"You and the Bronze are welcome to stay," Friedrich offered, half in desperation and half in apology. She had been his sister's fastest friend, close confidant, and a fierce fighter. Not to mention, he needed everyone.

"We were hoping, Thetis, that you might stay for at least the proceedings, we believe we may be able to lay Lord Weiss Schnee to rest, I understand you were close," Zawisza cut in, the young man had a much better sense of what to say and when to say it than Friedrich. Just like that, Thetis' green eyes looked up at him, tired, but attentive.

"We will remain for the meeting today, if there is a funeral guard for the casket, I would request that we be placed on it." Thetis asserted herself for the first time since the death of Weiss, the fire in her relit at a single name. "The pay however, will be immediate, as is our dismissal." Friedrich had no intention of refusing her on either. No ability as well.

"Of course, maybe we can bury her together?" Friedrich asked, knowing it was probably an inappropriate question, but he didn't want to do it alone. He never put anyone in the crypt before.

"I wish we needn't," Thetis replied turning away, the matter closed, and her desire to stand with the one that ordered the indirect murder of her husband emptied. She stopped only to grab the Lien on the way out, not waiting for end dismissal, the last and most loyal of his Mercenary elite left the building and the snow covered hall felt even less hospitable.

"Next please."

One by one the many mercenaries they hired on took their contracts to conclusion and left, the irregulars who survived were summoned to receive their rewards and honors, none showed up. Members of the engineering corps came to inform Friedrich that the wall would be fixed soon, the breach and unsightly mismatch of rubble and quick walls guarded by the Schnee's walking clockwork machines.

The last on the long schedule of debts and official services was the one last court proceeding before the meeting, considered least important by Zawisza and most dreaded by Friedrich. Qrow. As a minor huntsmen collecting debt, no one from the merchants guild or army remained, aside from guards, He stood alone aside from Summer at his heel, the girl cloaked in red quick to kick the snow from the floor and giggle. Despite the sadness, she remained a person made of sunlight. The last warm day in Winter.

"Friedrich! I got you something!" Summer called out, running from behind the elder Rose, both dressed in vibrant red and dark blacks. One looked cheer, eyes silver with glee, the other looked disgruntled his eyes grey and bleak.

"Summer there is nothing you could buy I couldn't buy with ease, learn to save your money!" Friedrich scolded, but with a smile. The younger Rose rolled her eyes proudly marching over to the local throne, guards knowing better than to stop her.

"That's not the point of gifts! You're acting spoiled!" In the time between cannons and calm, Summer seemed to forget everything, perhaps having a huntsmen for a brother meant getting used to this sort of off and on stress. Friedrich hoped his life wouldn't be so consistent.

"I'm not spoiled!" Friedrich retorted knowing he was always the most well behaved of his siblings and that Summer simply had no idea what she was on about, per usual.

"Fine, if you're not going to admit it, I'll just keep your gift." Summer replied with a self satisfied grin.

"Sure, but what was it?" Friedrich asked, spurred by his natural curiosity.

"Well," Summer began in an almost sing songy voice, "if you can just buy anything you want, just buy everything, you'll get it eventually." Friedrich could hear his guards chuckle, the feeling of embarrassment growing.

"What is it?!"

"Say 'I'm sorry Summer, I really want your gift,'" Summer demanded slyly. Her usual games at Friedrich's expense. Why he even kept this up surprised him more than anything. He didn't have any time for kids games anymore, he wasn't going to be a child anymore.

"No," the young Schnee had to say, whether he wanted to or not.

"Okay," Summer countered, elongating the 'ay' in a teasing manner, hinting at whatever secret might have be hidden by her cloak.

"What if I just say I want it?" Friedrich broke, just a little crack, everyone must have wanted to know as bad as him? It was for the good of everyone really. Not the good of Qrow though, and in this momentary break, he shattered it with a heavy step.

"Excuse me, Friedrich," as Qrow moved towards the boy, Zawisza stepped between him, the smiling man resting a hand on his knife, "I'm here to receive my overdue payment, we are leaving on the first caravan south." They didn't get along.

"Qrow you said I could play with Friedrich," Summer protested, looking at her brother irritably.

"No I said you could give a goodbye present to him," Qrow contested, "I'm sure he's very busy."

"I actually am," Friedrich interrupted, noting the clock ticking towards fate, he only had a tiny bit of time left, "but I wanted to actually get you something first. If you didn't bring Qrow I was going to send you home with it." Bundled together at his seat, the ill fitting chair too big for him anyways, he unraveled her gift.

"It's a-"

"Cloak, I know you have one, but this is much bigger, and newer than your red one, also it's my colors. No one will hurt you wearing Schnee White!" The long white cloak was made of hard thick fabric, rich and strong against any winter time, yet not so heavy to cook a person in the heat. hooded and in brilliant alabaster color. It would protect her, but also keep her away. Summer couldn't stay, Friedrich agreed with Qrow on that, though he hated to admit it. She was a little kid, he had to be an adult, his world would hurt her, like everyone else. Summer was safer, far away from anyone. The boy already ruined Thetis and Rollo's life.

"Summer doesn't need-" Qrow tried to interrupt, but Summer already took the cloak into her arms. Friedrich didn't brace himself before she collided with him.

"Thank you!" She was his size exactly, they matched really, Summer holding him in a big hug with just the cloak keeping them separate, "I'll wear it always!" Her voice was mumbled into the cloak, into him, and he wanted to cry.

"Get off me you dolt, I'm not a kid!" He didn't want her to go.

"Oh fine, I got your gift too!" He wanted her to stay, he didn't want to be alone anymore.

"Here it is!" Why did she have to go? Why did the others? He didn't want this. Didn't want any of it.

"A music box?" Its fine wooden craft, designed to look like a piano, its spinning mechanical parts pressing on fake keys on the outside to play, at least it looked like it. The top was carved sloppily with a rose, a white one from the white wood used to make the box.

"You said you'd practice piano and you never do! I want you to play this for me on the real thing when I come back. Never give up and promise me, okay?" Idiot, machines like this are the reason he stopped playing, why bother when he couldn't beat a cheap box? Such a stupid, stupid little box.

"I will," he lied. After all this was the end, the last words Friedrich would ever speak to her and just like that, the petals scattered.

* * *

><p>The outside of Winterstown had never been so noisy and messy, the until recently unmanned outer defenses of the settlement were full again. Tents flooded the area, trucks moved in and through the trenches, a few scattered airships hung over head, lifting supplies in and taking people out. The predominate banners outside weren't white snowflakes Friedrich had grown up with, but a rich mixture of smaller flags, and the most prominent of all the double axes of Vale. Symbol of the royal family, Beacon, and nation. The Queen's army, now that Geordie had abstained and her sister brought to the forefront, change was coming to Vale, but Friedrich had no idea what kind it was yet.<p>

"Well at least they're human," Zawisza whispered as their own detachment marched out, a line of their best dragoons and the remainder of the mistralians, only their most mobile and elite coming out today, or what's left of them. It wasn't a military mission, but a diplomatic one, all the most mobile units stayed with him, a young boy in a dust powered jeep. "I think that's him up ahead," he added as the jeep passed the main Schnee line of defense and into the mass of the Royal army. Facing them along the path was a similar group headed by the leader of the new royal army, a man dressed in plain armor with nothing spectacular besides the grey wolf fur lining. He carried little but a sword on his belt and an annoying arched smirk on his face, like he had long since reached contentment with the world, this was only slightly marred by a scar that followed down his cheek to his his equally yellow trim beard. He was blonde blue eyed, swordsman, a war hero not of the social elite in any respect, but lower order. A farmer if Friedrich was correct.

"Hello Mr. Schnee sir, we've been waiting for you!" Philip Arc. We in this case included his entourage, a younger girl that looked much like him, had to be his daughter judging from their looks, an older woman with heavy armor, red shoulder length hair and a similarly mismatched younger man in lighter armor. The rest of his mounted fighters sat back patiently, calling no attention to themselves. "My name is Philip Arc, and these are my good friends, Miss Ora Arc, and Knights Bronzewing and Winchester, here from the capitol."

"Hello," Friedrich replied hesitantly, he had not gone to see this Arc person parliament had named general during their stay here, but he recognized his voice on the radio, an upbeat sort of cheery like Wilhelm, and Wilhelm was a liar. "I'm Friedrich Schnee, this is Zawisza and Nikos, You said you've gotten everyone to agree to a meeting."

"Absolutely, Parliament has written up the deal, have you had time to read it?" Arc asked, and Friedrich nodded. Zawisza read it to him, at least a more sensible version, simplified down for a youngner mind.

"Yes, I noticed a few oddities however, things left unclear, did everyone already agree to this?" Friedrich complained, trying his best to not show his total ignorance of the greater nuances of the deal. Little addressed him, besides some reparations being paid in mining rights, and that parliament was already passing many rites that would undermine noble authority, question was more on the blank spaces, things yet to be finished.

"Well we need some breathing room don't we? Need to be a bit flexible on the table don't we? I have authority to make a few changes here or there, same with you, all in all our priority is to finally end this once and for all," Philip responded, scratching the light blonde hair of his chin.

"And if not we kill them all," the surprisingly deep utterance came from the larger woman, the red headed knight with a mace whom seemed equal parts on edge and excited.

"Well yes that is plan B, but honestly can we not?" Philip countered with an anxious tone, his diplomatic preference obvious.

"That's up to them," Thetis interrupted, marching right passed the pack. She looked like a woman preparing to march into hell and drag something back. Friedrich wished it was his sister, supposed it was, just not in the way he dreamed.

"I suppose that's it then," the older general muttered with a whistle, "Hope you're ready for a whole field of lies."

* * *

><p>It took over two hours before the four parties converged at a spot that sat not six miles from Castle white, a green little hill, grass a predictable dark yellow with patches of winter snow, not a tree in sight with a river not too far away as was everything this close to the castle. This little bump in the ground was unremarkable in every way, besides its pleasant view of four separate tented camps, each primed in the distance for some action. Friedrich wondered if it was often that the most important moments would happen at such uninteresting places.<p>

By the time they had arrived, there was an awkward table set along the hilltop, two people sat waiting in their seats, as far as they could be from each other while on the same side. One was a man, no, a faunus, with deep red coloring along his head, almost a mane more than a beard, his scared face bright, too bright, and body built bigger than even Rollo complete with fur lined bronze chestplate, he sat arched and awkward with others of his same lion like kin with him, standing of course. Zawisza was staring so deeply into this red haired man, Friedrich worried he would burst into flames, almost wished he did.

The other seated figure, she was a woman with red hair and black horns, face obfuscated by a white grimm bone mask, eye holes so small Friedrich couldn't even tell her iris apart from the red of her mask. She and her guards dressed in on loose fitting clothing with bamboo and steel plate armor. They seemed disturbingly foreign, she frightened him more than the other, then a thought crossed him.

_I broke you. I killed your son. I made you run. _

She had all the reason to be afraid of him, the little boy that made them pay. Suddenly he was ice again, unfeeling, unbroken, Schnee. They could be scared, they should be, they would be.

"Greetings, am I rude to suppose the two of you are Murray lord of Ruthven, and the Akagura Taurus lord of Nord-"

"Last time I saw you Mr. Arc, you were an idiot with a flag waving like said idiot, now you command the Royal army, how desperate is King Geordie?" the one called Murray started with a laugh no one shared with him. Philip didn't even flinch, but his daughter did plenty more than that,

"Last I saw you lion man I shot you and you were dragged away dead," they had a history, the Arcs and Murray, one Wilhelm would have been privy too, but not Friedrich.

"Obviously not dead if we're having a pissing contest."

"Regardless, King Geordie has abdicated, charged with crimes against the people of Vale. His sister is Queen now, and she, along with parliament, has called for peace talks. I've sent over copies of the terms to all of you. The Taurus, I've been informed you had already agreed to these before arriving today." Murray gave the female faunus a look, she did not return one. There was some sort of tension between them; was that a secret?

"_When making a deal, if you see a division between the buyers, poke at it, just a little, let the crack work for you,' _Wilhelm's voice pried back into Friedrichs head, and came with an idea, he didn't know if it would amount to much, but these two didn't get along, poke the crack, shift it.

"May I ask, which one of you is the new King or Queen of the Faunus?" Friedrich's voice wanted to shake, but he didn't let it. Clenching his own hands behind his back, standing so uncomfortably at this outdoor meeting between a lot of armed men.

"Our new King or Queen, is currently still in their mother's belly," Murray answered before the Taurus could, the crack getting a bit deeper.

"Whose regent then?" he asked, not letting them get away from the question. He picked up on the truth, neither of them were in total command, the rebellion was divided. Explained the separate formations, the odd air. Philip had to pick up on that.

"We both are, for now, co-regents," the Taurus offered. Divided now, he had to be strong. For his sister.

"Good, then I need to address both of you, where are my sister's remains? I was promised them, regardless." Zawisza's hand grasped the young Friedrich's shoulder for support, showing him it was the right time. Right place.

"Aye, bring it up," Murray called out to one of his entourage, the lion faunus stepped down from the hill into the caravan that crawled up the path from their side. Wasn't long before they came back up, this time three of them, carrying a chest, a small little chest not even the size of Friedrich, not enough space for her, not enough space for Weiss.

"You cremated her?" the boy asked, half in shock, half in fury, they knew not to do that, they knew, "we don't cremate our dead. Why? Why did you do this?" He didn't let himself shake, but there was a quiver in his soul. A certain low hate.

"It's better this way, I promise." Murray offered, but it did little to ease him. His duty to Castle White was the only thing keeping him together, he had to do what was best for the family, even if it meant letting every insult go.

"I'll return the chest to the crypt," Thetis stated plainly, her own eyes locked on the crate the lion faunus more than happily gave up. The best of the Mistralians grasped it on all four sides, Thetis protecting it herself. No matter what happened today, Friedrich was sure that her sister's remains would get back to the Castle. Thetis would not abide by anything else.

"Now, back to the terms. As you have seen, the proposed deal would give a blanket pardon to all Faunus fighters assuring all of you that you go home safe, legalizes both of your claims to lordship to the castles you currently occupy and most importantly strips legal distinction between faunus and human. No law shall ever apply to one and not to the other." Philip argued, staying mostly true. The pardon wasn't truly blanket, plenty of concessions had to be made on their holdings and their legal status of nobility came on the heels of that distinction suddenly lacking in much official meaning, serfdom was ending.

"I was promised Castle White," the Taurus griped. Friedrich had to stop himself from looking back at Philip, but the betrayal was noted.

"That was when we thought you had taken it. Schnee's lawfully hold that now." The crown was ready to claim Friedrich dead? He supposed what he had done did a lot to surprise the world.

"And what about Fort Castle, all the mines are being paid to the SDC, those belong to Charles' child. You can't just steal them!" Murray seemed unusually attached to something other than himself, and Friedrich became aware of why the two faunus likely didn't get along.

"Ruthven has mines, and rumor has it you're not likely to have children, you can give him your titles and such," Phillip offered, coldly.

"What about the kid, says here you'd take him, I can't have that," Murray growled, but Philip kept his smile up.

"They would move safely to that capital as soon as the Lady of Fort Castle and her child are ready to move. In the mean time I'm sure we can leave them in your care. It's the only safe choice for everyone involved, after all the child would be endangered if anyone tried to force him into this whole rebellion thing again."

"The Lady of Fort Castle won't stand for this," the Taurus admitted, she was already sold. Perhaps she had been sold for a very long time now.

"She can't stop us, none of you can to be honest. The Faunus have been crushed in Atlas, Mistral has signed a similar deal with their malcontents, and Vacuo is Vacuo, when summer comes the desert will eat anyone left fighting. If you want a chance for the Faunus people, you take this deal. There will not be another time," Philip was lying. At least lying about the certainty. They were evenly matched, though the humans were perhaps slightly better equipped and more united, it would take months for foreign intervention even if Atlas was to get involved now. The Faunus had more of a leg to stand on than they realized. Friedrich almost wished they said no, if only to break that leg himself.

"What assurance do we have that this law will be executed, you lot have hardly been famed for your honesty," Murray grumbled, practically admitting defeat, even if a slow and arduous one.

"An advisory organization to parliament, a group designed to ensure that all our terms for equality are met. Run by a faunus too, any suggestions of who can run it."

"I could-" the Taurus started, but never finished.

"Charles has a brother, not a military leader, but he's popular, good kid. He's the least interested party as well. Won't you say so Akagura?" Murray had a look in his eye, Friedrich didn't trust it, not one bit. Some gears were turning, this is when they were supposed to stop.

"I suppose," a meek answer, but enough to make Philip smile bright and wide.

"Well, we have Akagura Taurus the White Bull and Murray the Fang. I think we have ourselves a name for this group, White Fang. Does this please present company?" Nothing was going to please the present company, but silence them? Get them to sign the paper? This was over before it even began. It was another ten hours worth of arguing over small little changes before the pact was signed, but it was. The Faunus were to disband and reform as a political group to symbolize unity. Dusk had come down. All were tired, though Philip kept the smile, Murray simply drank himself drunk over the time and the Taurus grew increasingly silent. Friedrich felt exhausted, but aware. Enough to deliver one parting warning.

If the treaty was ever broken, Friedrich would not stop until everyone involved paid.

The two of them likely ignored it, it was a threat from a child and after all, who hadn't said a blatant lie that day? They just hadn't realized he was anything, but lying.

In the end though, for the most part, everyone had been bought, including Friedrich. The SDC had access to even more of the dust supply in northern Vale. Combined with their territories in Atlas and the original supplies, the SDC would grow massively, even without Wilhelm's expertise and talent.

The only one that hadn't been bought was Philip. Eventually that thought, what was his prize, haunted Friedrich on the ride back, haunted him enough to ask.

"What are you getting out of all of this?" The older man stopped for a moment and shrugged.

"I get to go home. I own a farm back south, I just want to go back. It's been years. I just want it to end, someone has to. Isn't that enough?" he laughed, thinking just for a moment, "That and my little girl get's to go to Beacon, tuition all paid for by parliament. That's enough."

* * *

><p>Friedrich had missed the immediate funeral upon his return. Most everyone had left the crypt, it was late, pitch outside with only the moon's cracked glow. Inside the crypt though, nothing was bright except for the lantern Zawisza was carrying and a dim light deep in the moonstone sanctum. Beyond the statues of different Schnee's throughout history, past his father Otto, the newest carved image was bright beside lantern light. Thetis was still there, looking at her.<p>

"Thetis?"

"Hello Friedrich, I was just waiting for you, to be dismissed." She sounded dead, empty like the bulk of her sister's coffin. It had to be horrible, losing her husband and her closest friend within weeks. Friedrich could sympathize, his thoughts drifted to Wilhelm's smiles and Weiss' hugs, the way they would play out of sight of their parents, the way they hid around Wernher's tinker toys. There were so many of them, how was he alone? How could this happen? She had to feel the same way.

"I heard about your husband, I... I've take full responsibility. I wish we could have avoided this, my sister wouldn't have liked seeing you so sad, you were her best friend," Friedrich had practiced that line in his head whether he knew it or not, trying to find a way to say he was sorry, for making her alone just like him.

"I lost the love of my life, all I have is money and a soon to be child without parent to love them with me. I regret my decision, I wish more than anything I picked the other," he couldn't imagine her working for faunus, maybe her decision was working for them at all, or listening to Friedrich's order, or anything. He didn't have the courage to ask what it was, or the inhumanity. instead he stood there like an idiot as she turned away, tears glowing in the dim light, away from the crypt.

"I understand why you would regret working with us, losing someone so important to you, he served with honor." He had to say something, and the words were coming out all wrong. All that speech training with Wilhelm, it wasn't good enough. He couldn't just say the right things.

"Yes she did," Thetis replied, mismatching her words Friedrich thought, but they would be the last words he would hear from her as well, the girl made of bronze with the scar that complimented her sister. Just him now, him, the statue, the remains, and Zawisza more still than the ghosts and near invisible.

"Hello sister," Friedrich began, not sure what he was meant to say, but that something had to be said, that he had to reach out and grab her before she left, before Weiss was gone forever. Like right here was the last chance that if he just wanted it hard enough, if he loved her enough she would come back. They could play again, them and Wilhelm, it was winter now, they could make snowmen. He would practice piano really hard and play for them if they wanted, please. "H-hello sister-r" Weiss could pick him up and twirl him around the estate now that everyone was gone, they could play fake sword fights, she could win this time, instead of pretending to lose for him, he would be a good boy, he wouldn't be so spoiled. Give her back.

"He-hello sister, We-iss," his tears were running everywhere, freezing to his face, the feeling of mucus clogged his throat as he tried to say the words, bring her back by the spell of memory, "I'm sor-rr… I did what you said, I ke-kept the castle, I'm sorr-ry, they...they got away, I-I couldn't do both, I'm sorry." Friedrich's knees buckled. He was begging, frozen and shivering, begging her to answer, to forgive him for letting her killers go. His words became wails, even he couldn't understand. Sometime in the silence, a blanket fell over his crying form, and Zawisza held him, so gently he didn't notice till morning.

She never came back. Wilhelm and Weiss slept forever.

******So this chapter was so hard to write, literally would just not budge until the near end when I started to feel into it again finally. Sorry if this comes off dry or rushed, but condensing so many sentences to make these final last two chapters not 4 chapters is a little rough. Asleep from the sucker punch soundtrack really sold me that last scene tbh, which I really feel is the only super strong part of this chapter.**

**As this is Friedrich's last chapter, his name is a reference to Friedrich the Great of Prussia, one of the most famous enlightened despots of the pre napoleonic era. insanely cruel or before his time, he is a debatable figure, much like this little boy who grew up way too fast. This is also Akagura's last chapter her name simply means the red and black pattern used in japanese ceramics, akaguro, and Philips first and last chapter he is named after Philip the great of france who built the nation of France from the shattered kingdom of france. His daughter's name is a manipulation of gold in french. Rollo is named after the Northmen for father of william the conqueror, and Thetis is the name of Achilles mother. **

****Thanks to TCR of course for the edits! ****


	20. Chapter 20: Autumn Vale

**Chapter 20: Autumn Vale**

**Lord Murray**

"She's on the wrong side of the Bank! No! Advance! We have to save her!" Murray heard his opponent shout in the final moments, a girl in bronze armor like his, from the same far off continent his people had fled years ago. It was a poetic little fight on a stone bridge barely ten people in width. All day there was a clatter of their clashes, his Lion guard smashing hard against their phalanx of javelins and spears. It was in that moment, after Murray's semblance healed him of the initial javelins, the bronze woman, their leader, shouted that peculiar line. She cried it, screamed it, as others of the bronze pulled her away, shouting things that Murray could not hear over the distant cannon fire.

"Charge!" Murray called, knowing not what came next, what mistake he was making. The lion faunus thought this was the moment, a breakdown in command that could mean taking the one major entry into this river town, one entry right into the heart of the Schnee formation.

Each step on that rocky bridge was another person he brought with him, every shouted order, ten more bodies on the pyre, and when he came close, close enough to glare into the horrified emerald eyes of his adversary, he realized they were not on him.

The bridge burst. The force shattered the couple supports, tossed him and his best into the air, rubble slicing him up as he was flung around, limbs uselessly dangling with him, ears shot. Eyes staring, if only for a moment at the distant faunus camp. The hope of his people, Charles' reserves, the airship dreadnaught, everything burned in red and orange, the sky itself burned with the shape of a massive snowflake, dropping quietly onto the ashes below.

Then, there was water. The crash crushed Murray's ribs, water flood his lungs, and the light, really cannon fire, shone bright about him, disappearing as he drifted deeper into the river. Everything was red, his blood tinting the water, mixed with the blood of his kin on that bridge.

Then darkness.

Then his semblance.

Then the light of an autumn day.

"Mr. Murray, husband?" a small voice called out, a child's voice that made him cringe, "You should wake up now."

"I told ya to stop calling me that, think me more like an Uncle please Weizena," Murray groaned, wanting desperately to sleep, not poked awake by a small child. She was a sweet little thing, hair long and gold eyes emerald and gifted with a sunny disposition despite the loneliness that suffocated the air around her. Weizena was last of the noble family that ruled Ruthven, to legally bind his conquest of the town a marriage of convenience was made, one that Murray hoped to annul soon. Children weren't meant to be used like that, inheritance a disgusting nobles game, but at least he hoped to become a father figure to the young girl. It was the least he could do, after all it was the battle of Fort Castle that eliminated her parents, both fighters.

"That's all well and good, but you have to get up," she groaned, but was right. The morning was to be a momentous one in history to be sure, even if it seemed hugely uneventful to the rest of the waking world. Today was the day of the exchange.

"Aye, you're right little one," Murray let out with a mumbled laugh, hand reaching out to pat her small head. It could easily fit in his hand. Such a tiny creature. Thankfully she would be uninvolved in what was to come.

Little time was wasted getting ready. The new lord Murray dressed as he did back when he was merely a chief. Bronze armor with fur lining, claymore of his family tied to his back and a usual happy disposition. No castle would change his soul into something more human, absent of spirit and fire. Didn't stop people from whispering. 'Gold Fang' they were calling him; it wasn't a compliment.

He took his breakfast in relative silence in the cold stone halls of Ruthven, delaying any and all concerns from his holdings, clan, and new properties. So much of his life had been dominated by stabilizing the aftermath of the war. The last year had still had it's share of violence. It was only with Murray that Fort Castle surrendered without a prolonged battle. Still then the damaged countryside became ravaged by war. The question of refugees left unanswered, though most were in favor of the new Mountain Glen settlement as both a way to house the displaced and expand the nation. That was parliament's concern, as well as the restructured council. Murray simply acted as a negotiative agent for the White Fang with the local nobility, handled disputes in town and tried his best to clear the grimm and right the wrongs that four years of warfare had brought to just his area alone. Still it was an exhausting task, one Murray never shirked, never broke a rule. All because today he was tasked to bring Maledetta and the newly born princess of the Faunus to Castle White. The Schnee's would then bring her to Icemarsh, and they would by boat bring her to Vale City. They were never going to make it to Castle White. Ever.

"Maledetta," Murray called, his voice low when he walked into the shared room of the former Queen and her child. She was barred from staying in fort Castle, the new Queen of Vale rightfully feared her, and the Faunus that swore loyalty to her. Instead they intrusted the two of them to Murray. Trusting his word to a human meant more than his love for his people, for his king, was a mistake Parliament was happy to make. "Are ye ready?"

She stood, low light from the autumn sun falling on her through a stained glass mural. The young Queen had always been sick, but birth had made her more ill than ever before. Her body was thin, boney in parts, never able to gain the weight she needed for the two of them. Her form was still elegant despite how she had aged five years in two. She carried such a sad look about her, resting in a wooden lounge chair, a small book in one hand and the baby in the other. "I'm about to be a prisoner Murray, I don't know if people can get ready for that." She still spoke strong however, her voice unchanged, and then there was the baby. A girl, hair black like both their parents. She lost her father's tail, but kept his beautiful amber eyes and small black cat ears, unmistakably faunus. Her skin was paler and soft like her mother, Grewa was her name, her mother named her after Charles' tribe's old word for gray. Her name was a way including them both in their choice. Most importantly though, the child was healthy. "But no, I haven't packed yet."

"Don't worry none, already had all ye need packed for the trip," Murray gave a quick glance towards the door guards, two young Leo, likely loyal, but he made a motion to indicate they should vacate anyways. They needed as few a witness as possible. "Pan took care of it this morn."

"I don't even get to choose what I bring? Murray treat me with some respect," Maledetta demanded in a quiet voice, the baby asleep in her arms. She was an attentive mother of which Murray was grateful.

"Nay, because ya don't know what to bring," Murray answered with a smile, knowing the doors shut behind him, "Mala, Charlie used to call ya that, Mala I do not intend to give ya away to the Schnee. There is a plan, and for it, ye need to listen."

"You only tell me this now?" Maledetta asked with a chuckle, "Who are you selling me to now? Somehow in the last few years I've become even more of an object than before, who would have thought." She was bitter, but it was understandable. The war had robbed her of her agency more than most, but Leo were supposed to break chains. Soon she would be free.

"Mala, I don't know how to be as sneaky as the Taurus, but I do know if ya have a secret, leave not shred. No one knows, only you, I, and yer cousin." Her eyes shined with a momentary glint, cutting right over from the baby to Murray, the smiling giant compared to the two of them. Maledetta was naturally wary of anyone, but that golden knight's loyalty was legendary, and her location a mystery for the last year. Some claimed she, like Azura, had disappeared into the wilds, but Murray knew she was gathering strength, waiting for this chance.

"Armillia?" she asked to be sure. The Cid Family was all but gone, but this must have sounded too sweet to be true. Her reserved attitude was evidence Maledetta was used to profound disappointment.

"Yes," Murray explained, leaning down to speak directly to her, and see the child closer, be reminded why he was risking his position and clan. Looking at the squirming child of Charlie, so restful and sleepy, he was sure. "Armillia and I are gonna fake an ambush, Bandits will 'ave kidnapped you hopin' to collect a reward. In the time it'll take them to find our bandits, killed by the grimm of course, Armillia will take ya to a home, a family of Faunus living in the village of Belladonna, on the outskirts of Fort Castle lands, where the Kingdom ends. There you will wait for Armillia and Azura to come and move ya to a safer place. Eventually we'll return Grewa to the throne once my agents in the White Fang say the capitol is ready for our glorious revolution once again." The plan was imperfect, Armillia hadn't yet located Azura, or a safer home determined. What to do about Maledetta's illness was a concern, half her bag was filled with medicine just to delay it. Still it lit a fire in Murray's belly. This wasn't over. The White Fang would be reborn again when the time was right, one of the few things he and the Taurus agreed on. The crowned lotus would replace the twin axes of Vale as they should. The thought made Murray grin, hoping Charlie was smiling down at him. His love for his king deeper than it ought be, but it would save the child and the kingdom of the Faunus.

"Does the family know who I am?" Maledetta asked, looking deeply concerned. She was skeptical, it made sense to be.

"No, they think you're just a wife of a dead Faunus soldier needin' help raising a child. The' won't know a thing. No loose ends. Only one's knowin' where ya be is me and Armillia."

"And the guards," Maledetta replied looking away from him and towards the window, stained glass that could not allow watchful eyes to spy on them. She would have done well as a Queen, she would do well, if illness did not take her before the time was right.

"They know only what they need, that we are faking an ambush. You'll be bringin' yerself to the house." Murray had planned for this moment, keeping the sign in his head.

"How? I don't know where we are going?" Maledetta asked. Murray replied with a smile, unraveling a map in his pocket, nothing more than the standard map of North Vale. On the western border, where the mountains end, the safety net that has long protected Vale. The town of Belladonna.

"Here. Never say the name aloud, but this is where you'll go. Memorize it," Murray whispered, taking a pen from his pocket. Only Armillia knew the name aside from himself and now Maledetta, but the next piece would be kept secret from even Armillia herself. "The village is large enough to confuse ya, but the home that'll take ye in has an emblem on the door." Murray was no artist, but the design was simple enough for him to make. A nightingale bud, wisped like a fire. Almost like the flaming lotus that came to symbolize Charlie. "Will you remember?"

Maledetta stared deeply into the image, the town, the lines and curves of the nightingale. Burning it in her mind forever, likely to be there long past its worth. A low sigh punctuated the end of her focus, eyes relaxing and directed now to her child. She seemed both sad and happy, caught between a tired frown and a pleasent smirk. "I do, I don't really have much of a choice, seems like I never do. Even here."

"Whatcha mean, to me yer my Queen and I'm a humble servant," he replied with a laugh, not wanting to lose her now. It was all planned,

"If you think Charles or I were anything more than a pair of very unlucky people tied down by persons of ambition like you and Akagura, you are just as dumb as you pretend to be," Maledetta cut, and deep. If Charlie had just listened to him, if the Taurus had just stayed… this wasn't Murray's fault, so he just smiled back. People always liked his smile. "Alright Murray, take me to my new hovel, I am bored of Castles and modern heating." She joked with a very tired smile. Maledetta was always a charming queen.

"Of course, lets go make history again!" Murray announced, perhaps too loudly, but he could not care. He longed for the days riding out with Charlie, fighting the injustice of the world, doing the impossible. Even if it was for a single autumn. It stoked a fire in him. Perhaps one day he would ride again, but with Grewa, in ten years, in twenty, making history with Charlie's daughter, the spirit of their revolution reborn.

Burning the map, leaving no evidence, they rode out just as planned, long before midday. The autumn air blew past cold, but Murray burned like a fire. He felt like a fighter again.

* * *

><p>"We're stopping lads!" Murray called out to their caravan of crew. A small detachment came with them, half the size of what was the usual force. The less involved the better, especially the young squire Pan and the entourage that stuck closest to Maledetta. This team of four horseback riders and one personal guard to the former Queen was enough. Murray let his driver stay behind, taking the driver's seat himself. Rifle and grenade to his left, waiting to help make this look like an ambush.<p>

"Is this the spot?" Maledetta asked, though Murray wouldn't answer explicitly. This was one of many, but down the road to fort castle, the familiar highway still just as prone to ambushes. Muddy cliffs to the left, swamp like river basin to the right. How many dust trucks had Charlie hit on this same road? But here Murray was looking for someone suspicious, a human figure at the top of the cliffs. One of Armillia's revolutionaries.

"It is. Take me second's horse. It's the fastest," Murray instructed in a hushed voice. All the guards knew this was a set up, that they were going to let Maledetta go, but the details were left out, making them nervous, more so as figures propagated on the cliff side.

"Alright," Maledetta replied, leaving things as unspoken as possible. Her personal guard helped the young woman down from the back of their former faunus personnel carrier, Grewa tightly bounded to her chest with so much padding, even at full speed the babe would not feel the sudden jolts of movement. Taking the lead horse, black with fine grimm-like markings, Maledetta seemed hesitant, filled with questions, but as the rider loaded up supplies on the steed and as more strangers approached from the cliff, she held her tongue. They could have more words later, when it was safer, when the time was right.

"All's well," Murray whispered, a breath of ease overcoming him. "I assume you are Armillia's crew then?" Murray asked the shadowed figures. They all looked to one, a younger man in black with dark hair and darker eyes. He nodded and kicked down a body. Several actually. This was expected. She was planning on targeting a Schnee unit, use their bodies to pin Maledetta's "kidnapping" as an assassination by the young Friedrich Schnee's orders. After all, the blood feud between him and Maledetta was very public, the fighting spilling into every field but the real one. Buying out mine rights and putting the Cid family further into crisis. It needed to be done.

"Unbag the bodies, lay them about. Make it look real and take pictures!" Murray ordered. The story was the Schnee attacked on the road, nabbed the young woman and child before leaving. Murray's second in command took the lead, pulling up the first body. The first husk was devoid of an arm, amputation too common a sight after a protracted war. But a thought came along with it.

Memory of a boy without an arm, who stood silently by his child master. A boy with dark hair and dark eyes. The boy who looked just like the one that commanded these strangers. A horrible thought confirmed not just by a pair of riders coming down quietly from the cliffs, the familiar sight of Armillia's face revealed by the first corpse's unbagging, or the lightning fast volley of crossbow bolts that hammer down the small crew, unprepared and ill equipped to handle the strike. What really struck Murray, deeply, was the sound of his voice. This Schnee puppet's words.

"Chief Murray, I would advise against moving. I understand your semblance is regeneration, but I would be remiss not to warn you that it will not work in my company. Armillia ignored this, and when her radiance semblance failed, things got out of my hands. Please, stay calm." Murray needn't look far to see where he was in terms of fates. Two riders were slowly drifting off in distance, following Maledetta, his best were dead, he had a gun, but not his sword. It was in the back. There was so many. If he was to surrender, this plan would be undone. They would all be executed, or jailed. The child would not survive.

If he fought, normally it would be without question. He could take any of those bolts and heal, could break them, but how many hunters were with them? Trained to fight monsters and any number of fighters like Murray. Then there was the boy, Zawisza, he claimed he could turn off his semblance. Give Murray a tighter grasp on mortality than he wanted.

Was there ever a choice. Did Charlie stop to decide it was his day to die? If he could do so, such a small weak man. Glory wasn't a choice. There was bigger things than an old lion like him. Grewa, must survive.

The first crossbow struck his side when Murray went for the gun. It called out in a striking pain. His Aura had not blocked it, his healing would not pull it out. So he would die here today. Still. The riders, the riders needed to die.

His aim, despite the pain, his aim was true. First shot burst the pursuers skull. More bolts pierced his back, but the faunus couldn't even think to feel it, pulling the lever on the dust repeater, aiming for the second fighter, her speed picking up to catch up to Maledetta. Trigger pulled, and the Schnee rider never made it. Her body slumping off the horse with a thud. Mala and her baby would make it, she was no longer visible on the horizon. Two perfect shots. Murray was never going to ride onto the field of battle with Grewa it seemed. Never throw down the double Axe of Vale and proclaim a true king for his people. Never breathe the cold and salty air of his clan's homeland in Mistral, liberating his grandfather's grandfather's old home. Still he would die a hero, seeing Charlie soon wherever the heros of their kind fought forever.

"Die all ye tyrants, an' hail to the Bonnie King Charlie!" Murray pumped another shot turning his aim down to his Schnee enemy. Zawisza caught the barrel as it burst. The dust fire round scorching his pretty face, but that metal arm was strong despite his size. Aura not working, Murray grasped one of the grenades, meant to fake an ambush would come to real work. He tossed just one, two arrows piercing his chest as he tossed the metal ball. It landed at the top of the hill, bursting on impact, the fickle things. It killed no one, but frightened the horses, sending everyone one away and dropping even Zawisza to the floor. This was what was needed. Killing henchmen wouldn't buy Mala near as much time as robbing them of their horses, and most importantly this vehicle.

Murray roared, ending abruptly as a bolt pierced his lungs, but not before in his final moments of stretch, the chieftain forces his fist through the ignition, killing the engine for now, tearing his hand asunder no doubt, but finishing the job. He was smiling in the end, though his body ached and screamed. He wanted to laugh, but without air in his lungs, there was no way to make a sound. He soundlessly chuckled, unable to move, as the young boy in black, held him down.

"To tell you the truth Chief Murray," how mad he must've looked, how absolutely disturbed Zawisza must have been, to see the faunus smile, blooded and shot with bolts till he looked like cactus, to see him soundlessly laugh as he put the knife in his throat. The boy must have been absolutely livid. "I was going to kill you either way for what you've done to me."

It hurt, but that was normal to feel as the darkness came and took him. He hoped one day, when Grewa grew up, she would be told of Murray, how deeply he loved her father. How big the dream was. That she should live without regrets. Fighting like her father till the end. Like him. Till they returned to the dust from whence they sprang.

* * *

><p><strong>Maledetta Cid<strong>

The one thing that most tightly bounded Maledetta to the Faunus, she thought, besides forceful circumstance, is knowing what it meant to be an object. To be chained. It wasn't just the servant that was forced to suffer their position. Charles was king after all, and yet he was a puppet, an object just like her. To be pulled by other puppets. This one long train of puppets pulling on puppets. Everyone has to play, everyone has to do whatever they can to survive and know which strings to pull. Maledetta was forced into marriage, despite respecting Charles, that was only a lucky coincidence. Forced into a war, being on the moral side was again coincidence. Forced into surrendering, twice. Forced to lose her home, once to faunus and again to the Schnee. Forced to have a child, though she loved Grewa in ways she could not begin to measure. Forced to run, Murray's plan wasn't debatable. Being born unable to use Aura, born sick and weak, born to a hostile land, born in the wrong time. All these things rendered Maledetta a non-agent in her life. At any of these point, acting with agency, cutting the strings of her puppet self and being free meant being killed.

And so she was in the town of Belladonna at the edge of the world. Home to under a thousand faunus, a small mine, a huntsman and huntress outpost, and the nightingale on the door of a rather large wooden mill and home. It was connected to the farm, one that fed the hunters that kept the border. The family that met her at the door was faunus, but elder, slightly more wealthy, though you would never consider them of a higher class than poor, but stable enough to take in a child. Give her stability. Save Gerwa.

"Please come in," the woman, and from the looks of it head of the family called out to Maledetta, "Please let me see yer little babe." She was sweet, both of them seemed to be, the couple older, in their forties easily. They were feline faunus like Charles, though their was no relation. They seemed eager to take Grewa into their home. Actually passing her the child was the hardest thing Maledetta had ever done. Watching her hold the sweet girl, still fussing from the shots fired hours ago, the former Queen wanted to break down. She was still heaving from the ride alone, she felt like death, holding that child, and here this old woman was doing it perfectly.

"I don't wish to say anything painful child, but I hear the little ones father passed in the war?" The husband spoke with a finer accent, free of the faunus eccentricities she was used to. Perhaps he was once a merchant? Maledetta didn't spend much time on it. Whoever had attacked Murray were still coming. They had to be.

"Yes, on White River," she answered, in a panic. What if they followed her? Would the town's people be able to defend themselves? Would the hunters camp step in? Would it matter?

"Wouldn't with the good high chief Charlie eh?" the woman asked, rocking Grewa gentle with a worried look. "Not that it changes yer welcome none of course. Us folk gettin' pulled into all kinds of mess."

"No, it was on the Faunus side," Maledetta answered methodically. Her legs were weak, she needed to go.

"Aye, our daughter passed then two. Girl by the name of Swarta," the husband paused to see if it brought a light to Maledetta's eye. It made him sigh to see her shake her head no. It was impossible to remember all the names. "We tried to stop her from going after the fight at Fort Castle, not for love of the high chief of course, but we worried things would end as they did. Least the White Fang are fixing things here. Chief Murray, he neglected to tell us your names, by the way. I was hoping to ask." He was kind, both of them were. Maledetta had to leave.

"I'm sorry," she started, not knowing how one does this, "I have to go collect my other things, there are people who would hurt my child. So please. Never say I was here. To anyone." If Azura came to take the child, if Murray, if Armillia, none would know where Grewa was. Not even them. They wouldn't have her name. Nothing to confess. "I have to go."

She didn't wait for the answer, she knew they would keep Grewa. They called after Maledetta as she ran, out the door of the mill, into the cold fall air. It was raining that thick pre winter rain. A predictable autumn Vale. She was glad for it, The droplets reminded her to wear her hood and hide her face, it washed away the horses muddy hoofprints, and lastly hid her tears, as heaving from what little run she could manage, the puppet cut her strings and rode out to punishment.

* * *

><p>The rain continued its torrent, the ice chill soaking straight through the fabric of Maledetta's robes. a frozen black mess. No one died pretty, she supposed.<p>

She had ridden nonstop, pushing her horse to the breaking point. Desperate, she put two villages between her and Belladonna. Landing herself in the forest behind Fort Castle. Maledetta did not care whether the grimm found her first or the people who had attacked Murray, though she supposed if a beowolf had its way it would at least leave things a much more interesting mystery.

Alas it was decided in a forest clearing. Old tents and tables, small trenches and wooden barricades, it was an old military camp. Who it had belonged to, the army of Vale or the faunus rebellion, Maledetta did not know. It was populated now. A rider in black, human, spotted her and blew a horn. She made no effort to run, it did not take long for the others to come. They encircled her like the dark clouds in the thundering skies. She may have seemed brave there, before these assassins, but she was simply tired. If they didn't kill her soon, the cold would. She was woozy, unprepared for this. Illness might win out yet.

"Lady Cid," a young voice called out from the dark, a smiling man with a fresh burn on his face and a touch of red to his clothes, "my name is Zawisza, I work for Mr. Friedrich Schnee. We believe you were forced to go into hiding with your daughter Grewa. We've come to retrieve you." His hand was metal, clutching a crossbow, nevermore arrow head.

"I was," Maledetta admitted, dismounting her horse. Felt wrong to get her blood on the poor thing. Truth was, this was part of the commitment. She couldn't run now, her feet in mud would not take her anywhere. The endurance of a child would not outrun arrows. She was committed to being an agent in her fate. In her child's. "I won't tell you where Grewa is. You can try to torture me, my body will fail before you can get me to tell you. Better to kill me now!" Maledetta was hit with a realization, then a crossbow bolt. Grewa would never know her name. Know her own name. Her mother. She would think she was abandoned by a mother that didn't want her. That filled Maledetta with so much fury, she screamed as she fell to her knees, the bolt caught in her gut. She puked out blood from inside, cried hot tears, and hated. She chose to protect her, yet no child would think herself less loved than what Grewa will grow up to believe. They did this to her.

"I agree with you Ms. Cid." This Zawisza had fired his crossbow alone. His cheery expression, haunting. "Torture doesn't work honestly. You would just name every town you could think of. We'd search for years." Maledetta couldn't manage words, her lower body felt dead already, she was losing herself to the abyss. Yet she could manage a glare, a hateful, hateful, glare. They could have searched for years. Now it would be forever. The one solace to hold this, Grewa would haunt them forever. The faunus princess, they would see her in every dark corner, fear the return of the revolution. Know that any day the faunus could rise up again. The only people in the world that knew were going to be dead and while that little girl would grow up on a farm on the edge of the world, monsters like Friedrich Schnee and the Queen of Vale would shiver and quake at night.

"Here you will pay for what you have done," Zawisza whispered in a quiet judgement, it was calling from the abyss and raindrops fell on her head, "for crimes against the Schnee family, I hereby sentence you to death."

***** I notice I like making circular stories. The first chapter begins with an ambush and ends with an execution. This completes the cycle. Autumn Vale might forever remain my least popular work, burdened by the OC curse and so forth, but its help me learn a lot, and without the few who took the time to read, I wouldnt have finished it. Honestly, this story has shifted and had many cuts, many things I would have changed, but now I'm happy to close AV for good. Special thanks to TCR most of all for not only editing every chapter, but reviewing them with much gusto. Thank you my friend. **

**The final names are as follows. Murray was named after the scottish chief George Murray who helped the Bonnie prince Charlie in the jacobite rebellions. Maledetta (cursed) and Armillia (Yellow) Cid are named after El Cid, a famous hero knight of Spain, whom Loyalty was endlessly important. Zawisza is named after the Black Knight of Poland, loyal and effective. **

**I hope you enjoyed if you've read up to this point and I will likely see you in MV as I finish that up. Goodnight all, and to all a good night.**

"Summer, look, in the distance you can see Signal!"

"I don't like being on this boat, can we please go home!"

"No Summer, we'll be living on the island for now. But I promise you, we will be back to the capitol as soon as I graduate."

"Not that home. I miss the snow."

" We can go there after Beacon. Depending on what you want to do when you grow up."

"Huntress!"

"Something different, please."

"Can we see Friedrich? He'll be big then! You'll think he'll be tall like Wilhelm?"

"No. To the first not the second."

"Why not?"

"He's a bad man Summer."

"No such thing. He's just lonely."

"What do you mean, no such thing?"

"No human or Faunus is a grimm right?"

"Yes, but-"

**"****Then they all have a soul."**


End file.
